Behind His Glasses
by MLynnBloom
Summary: Behind his glasses, Harry's eyes reveal more than the famous 'Boy Who Lived'. Now, that she knows of Harry's past and prophecy, Harry needs to make a choice which could change their lives. Ch 26: In the End. COMPLETED
1. 14th Century Wizards

Ok you know the drill of what firsties say, this is my first HP fic and so yeah, be easy. Honestly this first chapter is blah, just to get the setting and story started, it gets juicier like an orange later...ok that was a weird.  
  
It's rated PG 13 for language and mild sexual content  
  
Ok enjoy reading, cuz I enjoy writing! _____________________________________  
  
"Checkmate! After your move, I win.again!" Ron stretched out in the huge red velvet chair in the Common Room, smirking at Harry.  
  
"Ok, there," He surrendered his king, " You won(but not the next game! One more, and we'll see," He challenged and they set the pieces back into their places.  
  
Hermione walked in, books in hand, annoyance on her face, " Do you have ANY idea what time it is?!"  
  
"Herm, you're sounding like my mum again, ya know?" Ron moved towards Harry's pawn.  
  
She ignored him and brushed her hair back. "It's exactly," she flashed her eyes to her watch, "11:37 PM, and in 23 minutes it's tomorrow, and you know what that means?"  
  
Silence. Obviously, Ron and Harry didn't give a damn.  
  
"Your essays on the 14th century wizards is due to Professor Binns, " She bit her lip and Ron and Harry were used to this lecture. Sick of her bossiness, but used to it.  
  
Ron smiled, "I've got it done, just a few touch ups during breakfast and(I captured your knight!"  
  
Harry moved his pawn. He was getting bored with the game and his eyes were drooping, "Uhhh.. actually, I haven't really started."  
  
Hermione stamped her foot, "Harry! I'd except this from Ron but not you!"  
  
"Hey, watch it!" Ron said, thinking of his next move.  
  
"I got distracted," Harry shrugged.  
  
"Like you are now, your bishop is his-tory!" Ron smirked, "You're slacking, Harry. Chess and homework." He said, mimicking Hermione.  
  
"I'll get it done, really," He said reassuringly, studying the board.  
  
"Harry, a four page essay? By tomorrow's class? You haven't even read the chapter." Hermione set her books down and sat next to Ron.  
  
"If you're so worried, Hermione, why don't you whip out your books and do it for him. It wouldn't be a problem for you, you seem to love homework." Ron teased but Hermione didn't take it as a joke.  
  
She was sick of this. All of it. Her friends were taking advantage of her. Plus, her reputation as a smart goody-good was getting to her. There was more to her under that, she just had trouble showing it. She stood up and looked down at Ron and Harry.  
  
"Fine. It that's how you see me. I'll be done with your essay soon, Harry. Good night." She choked the words out and stormed off. I'm a smart, bossy, basket case, she thought, and everyone knows it.  
  
"Oh, Hermione(geez, she needs to get a grip." Ron clicked his tongue and thought of where his queen would go to demolish Harry's pieces.  
  
"On the other hand, I think I should stop playing," Harry stood up and ran his hand through his hair.  
  
"She's either manipulated you, or you know I'm gonna win." Ron cleared the board and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, "I'm off to bed, I'll meet you up there."  
  
"Yeah, I better go talk to her, g'night," Harry said, shoving Ron away, "And I will win you know."  
  
"Yeah, I guess, in the next decade or so," Ron smiled and walked upstairs.  
  
Harry walked over to the Girls Dormitory stairs and realized he couldn't climb them without the stairs sliding him back down. He waited at the end of them, thinking how he was going to get up, when Ginny walked down.  
  
_______________________________________________  
  
Good so far?? I hope, it just gets better and better... ;) ~~~ 


	2. Late Nite Talk

Second Chaptie is here for you guys to read..  
  
Oh yeah, ignore the cheesy chapter titles. One more thing, I know this is there fifth year in Hogwarts, so don't slam me with the."But in the book." thing, just pretend that they fit this in. LOL  
  
_______  
  
"Oh, hey Harry.. something wrong?" Her red hair was tangled in a mess, "I can't sleep."  
  
"Can you get Hermione down here? I need to talk to her."  
  
"Oooooh." She smiled slyly and started up the stairs.  
  
"No, not like that, Ginny," He called and in a few seconds Ginny and Hermione were both down. Hermione's eyes were bloodshot, and if it was from crying or it was from lack of sleep, Harry couldn't tell.  
  
"I'll go back up, night," Ginny winked at Harry and skipped up the stairs before he could retort back.  
  
"I'm.I'm almost done, don't worry(well not really, but it'll be done by morning." Harry stopped Hermione.  
  
"Hermione, I'm sorry, you really shouldn't be doing m work because I'm irresponsible." He felt rotten. She was always working, if she wanted to or not.  
  
"So you finally admit it," she laughed weakly, "But.no, I need to finish it for you, I've already started it" She argued. There was no point in arguing back but he wasn't sure what to do.  
  
"Hermione("  
  
"No. It's ok, and I love work, right?" She looked away and sat on the table with Ron's chessboard still lying there. She didn't mean to be persistent, it was nice enough he was talking to her. Ron would never do anything like that.  
  
Harry sat next to her and looked at her. She was in her nightgown and it hung just above her feet. Her hands were clamped together in a death lock, right over her knees. Her hair was in her face, but he studied it. She looked much different than when he met her in his first year, four years ago. Her face matured and actually became thoroughly beautiful. Harry felt uncomfortable thinking about Hermione this way, but it was true. Her eyelashes were long, fluttering every once in a while over her hazel eyes and her lips were full. Her face was flushed pink and the purple rings under her eyes were an exception to her beauty. But through it, he could sense at times, she was falling apart with the stress of work.  
  
"If I can make it up to you, somehow at all, I will, really." He said quietly.  
  
"You really don't need to, I can't think of anything you could do for me," She looked back at him. She realized she was staring and she looked away, coming back every once in a while to look at him.  
  
He was slumped over but much taller now that he was fifteen. He was outgoing his pajama pants. She remembered him as the scrawny boy she knew when he was sorted into Gryffendor and all that. But she guessed, after playing Quidditch and being brave "Harry Potter" or whatever, that's how his arms and shoulders filled out. That's all she saw of him, never under his shirt..or past that. She blushed feverishly at the thought and thought about his face.  
  
His hair was longer than usual, hanging over his eyebrows. His glasses were still too small but behind them were those brilliant green eyes. They got to her, and even though she pushed herself to think that they were just friends, his eyes teased and flirted back at her.  
  
"Don't worry, I will make it up, honestly. But for now, I need to go to bed(" He stopped and thought about what he said. It would seem selfish to go to sleep while she stayed up and worked. "On second thought, I'll stay down here with you."  
  
"Ok, but I need to finish your work." She walked up stairs and grabbed his essays and some books. She passed a mirror and fixed her hair, not believing it was to look good for Harry.  
  
She sat back down with him and started to write, "Harry, don't be silly, and stay up. Go to sleep." Her quill scratched on the paper.  
  
"I'm still staying down here though, goodnight, Hermione," He grabbed a pillow and lay down on the couch. He closed his eyes, half hoping to dream a little about her, but he shook the thought away and fell asleep.  
  
"Goodnight, Harry."  
  
She worked for another hour at least until she made the paper approveable for Binns. Usually she doesn't cheat but she decided to let go this once. She sat looking at the fire and it glowed on her and Harry. She looked over to his face, the strong firelight flickering off it. She crept over on the floor and saw something else.  
  
On his head, his scar was burning crimson red and she put her finger on it. The burning sensation ran up her hand, it was like touching a hot stovetop. She brought her hand back but it returned to the same place. It wasn't as hot but he was murmuring something fierce.  
  
Bad dream, she guessed. She ran her hand past his scar and brushed his black hair aside. It went down his cheek and to the side of his structured jawbone. She took her index finger and ran it over his closed lips. Then she snapped up, realizing what she was doing, and how tired she must have been to be doing that.  
  
She set his essay in front of him on the table and grabbed her books. She walked up to her bed and didn't look back at him.  
  
__________________________  
  
The books clunked on the desk as she set them down. She flopped on her bed, lying on her bed, making more noise that she should.  
  
"So what happened?" Hermione jumped to hear Ginny's voice and saw her leaning on her bed frame.  
  
"Ginny, what are you talking about? Nothing happened at all like that, we're only friends." Hermione shot back, too tired to talk about this.  
  
"Who said anything like that would happen??? I know you're friends, or are you?" Ginny shot back even better, making Hermione red.  
  
"Shut up, Ginny, it's late."  
  
Ginny whispered, "You like him, that Harry Potter. Don't you?" Hermione swore she heard that name about a million times, but the was Ginny made it sound was different, like a good secret she shouldn't be telling.  
  
Before Hermione could say anything, Ginny sat down and scooted over to Hermione and leaned over, "You don't need to lie to me, Herm. I liked him too." She whispered.  
  
Hermione kept a straight face, "No, we're only best friends, good friends, and that's it." She persisted.  
  
Ginny straightened up, almost swearing Hermione would of confessed, "Ok, so you don't LIKE him, so then what do you find...attractive? And I'll know you'll be lying if you say 'nothing'."  
  
Hermione stared at the ceiling, realizing it was probably 2:00 AM, "His- eyes, his green eyes," She stopped and thought about Harry, "Also, this might sound stupid, but his scar and how it's hidden under his hair." No one said anything for a minute and Hermione's stomach flipped, embarrassed on what she admitted. Ginny crawled into her own bed and the springs in the mattress squeaked. Then Ginny broke the silence.  
  
"That's how I felt when I started to fall for him."  
  
Ok this one is twice as long as the first chapter, but I hope it was better. ;) Review please, I'm lonely! 


	3. Sealed with a Thanks

Oh yeah, to that one reviewer..I started the Blind Date Harry Potter Style a week ago actually! And it's hilarious, but I only read up to chapter six.  
  
Oh yeah one more thing, my sis noticed that in my previous chapter a had a lot of these ( ) in my stories..I dunno why they are there but I must of his the keys or something. Hey go read her story.. pen name: PippinFinn she has a pretty funny one comin up ;)  
  
Ok thanks for all the reviews! 7 is a good number! So onward with chapter three...!  
  
`````````````````````````````  
  
Harry woke up a little achy from sleeping on the hard couch. He rested well except for his dream. He wasn't sure on what happened but guessing from his previous nights it was probably about Voldemort. The only strange thing was that he didn't suddenly wake up with his head in a splitting headache. He felt his scar and it was almost normal. Strange.  
  
The clock on the wall read quarter till seven. He almost expected to see Hermione crashed in the chair where she was working but it was empty. Her books were gone but in front of him his essay, all four pages.  
  
He picked it up and read it. Better than he would have done, that's for sure.  
  
He went up to his bed and changed into his school robes. Ron woke up groggily and stumbled out of bed.  
  
"You're in your clothes already? You're mad," He slurred out and he thumped down on Harry's bed. "Hermione ok? Not mad is she?"  
  
"No but she did my essay and everything. Ron, I gotta pay her back," Harry said flipping the essay pages.  
  
"Can't help ya out, sorry," Ron said, getting out of his night robes, "Hey wait a minute, one time my mum did my outside chores for me and I promised to make it up.I was busy with.well, I cant remember but I do remember this. I wrote her a thanks letter and this little coupon. It was good for an hour of kitchen work that I would do."  
  
Harry looked back blankly, "You want me to make her a coupon for an hour's worth of kitchen work?"  
  
Ron sighed exaggeratedly, "You can be really dense sometimes Harry. No, just write her a letter saying sorry and thanks and you don't have to go on with that coupon idea. But girls like letters and stuff like that."  
  
"Sure whatever, I guess I'll go on doing something on the lines with that." He punched his arm and went downstairs.  
  
He wrote the letter (after thinking a while about what he'd say) and sealed it and waited for Hermione, but Ginny came down.  
  
"Hello, Harry, nice morning, isn't it?" She said untangling the knots in her hair, "What's you've got there?"  
  
"Could you do me a favor and give this to Hermione?" He handed her the note.  
  
"Of course, she's asleep but I'll put it on her nightstand. I can only guess what it might say," She giggled and ran for the stairs.  
  
Girls are so weird, Harry thought, and he went back to his bed to talk to Ron.  
  
When Hermione woke up, Ginny was getting ready for her classes, like the rest of the Gryffendor girls.  
  
She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, thinking about her classes for today.  
  
"Finally up?" Ginny asked, "I was wondering if you were dead."  
  
"No not dead, yet," She said as she started to change.  
  
"There's a letter on your side table-from Harry," She giggled, "Don't worry I didn't read it."  
  
Hermione pulled her robes on and dashed over to the nightstand and ripped the letter open. She made sure Ginny was downstairs before she read it.  
  
Dear Hermione,  
  
I'm really grateful that you finished my essay, It's great and when I get the A+, I'll owe it all to you. It's a long story how I came up with this, but this is how I'll make it up. Keep this letter and whenever you feel lazy I'll do whatever you want for how long you want.  
  
Love Harry  
  
She folded the letter and slid it into one of her night drawers. It was about the 10th time she had gone red in the face in the last 24 hours.  
  
Hermione got to the Great Hall to see Ron and Harry eating breakfast.  
  
"So I was waiting around, waiting for the ball to come to me so I could block it and here comes Katie on her broom and.! Oh hey Hermione," Ron stopped and went back to eating. He was always standoffish whenever Hermione got mad at him.  
  
"Hi," She said shortly, serving herself food.  
  
"Did you get my letter? I gave it to Ginny to-" Harry explained.  
  
"Yes I got it, and read it." She didn't feel like talking much, just eating.  
  
"Keep it ok?" Harry said softly.  
  
Hermione looked down at her plate, "I will."  
  
Ok might have been kinda short but the 4th one is coming to ya..I got a lot of chapters written on paper, it's the typing that's killin me. Thanks for reading! 


	4. Heat Wave

Ok couldn't wait long, gotta put the next chapter up!  
  
Oh yeah, I figured out the ( ) thing....I guess I was putting this symbol in my story like a slash line thing, close to ----, and I guess it would show up like that, oh well.  
  
Ok its party time! Go Frodo, its your birthday! Oops wrong story line...ok this one is longer than the rest...haha  
  
``````````````````````  
  
She kept the letter for a long time. It was late in October and she still didn't know when or how she would use it. It had to be good and she knew she couldn't waste it on some homework assignment.  
  
Then a heat wave hit Hogwarts. The air was thick and muggy. The classrooms were horrible to sit in, the chairs were sticky and it was humid. Everyone was taking twice as much showers than usual.  
  
Ron and Harry started up the dormitory room after their Herbology class.  
  
"It was like a flippin' greenhouse in there, wait I forgot, it was!! I swear, this bloody heat...! I can't take it any much longer. And to think, a heat wave now in October!" Ron complained, sweat dripping down his back uncomfortably.  
  
"Black robes don't make it any better," Harry said, running his hand over his forehead and neck.  
  
They walked into the room, where the temperature wasn't any better. It took them a while to realize what Dean and Seamus were doing.  
  
"What are you guys doing?" Ron asked, cursing the heat again under his breath.  
  
Harry thought the same thing. They were frantically pulling off their robes, searching their baggage. "Didn't you hear?" Seamus said, finally finding what he was looking for, "Dumbledore is so sick of heat, like everyone else is, and he's allowing everyone to go take a swim in the lake!!" Seamus said, pulling his trunks on and grabbing his towel. In a split second he was out with Dean.  
  
Ron and Harry looked at each other in utter surprise and frantically started to look for their swim trunks.  
  
Hermione heard the news about the lake way earlier than Harry and Ron did. She found her two piece suit right on the bottom of her trunk, never thinking she was going to use it at Hogwarts. She slipped into it, making sure it fit ok. It was a canary yellow color bikini with string ties. Off of her, the swimsuit looked appealing and cute but when she put it on, she felt bare and uncomfortable about her body. But she grabbed her towel and headed out.  
  
She felt even worse walking down to the lake with such little clothing on than she was used to wearing. After a while though she got to thinking that she probably wasn't the only one feeling like this.  
  
The lake was full of people, swimming and diving in. She sat down on the side and sunk her feet into the little sand that surrounded the lake. Then finally she dipped into the cold water, letting the heat escape her. She looked down at the water when something just occurred to her.  
  
She swam over to Lavender, who was splashing around with a group of boys, "Hey Lavendar, this lake, how do we know that some giant squid, or something, might not grab us from underwater?"  
  
Lavender flipped her hair an said, "Do you honestly think Dumbledore would actually let us swim here without doing something about the creatures before hand?"  
  
Knowing Dumbledore, Hermione really didn't know.  
  
By the time, Ron and Harry got outside, Hermione and a group of other girls were lying out under the sun.  
  
"Thank you, Dumbledore," Ron hissed for Harry to hear, with his hands in a prayer.  
  
Harry walked past Hermione and she almost didn't recognize him if it wasn't for Ron at his side.  
  
She called out to Harry on her stomach, "Harry! W-Where's your glasses?"  
  
"I wouldn't wear them swimming, would I?" He called back jumping in, making some girls scream as they got wet.  
  
She scanned the lake watching a group of people, here and there. Malfoy was standing around flexing for anyone that would notice him. Colin was in the water and it was pretty rare to see him without his camera. But she took a great notice in Harry.  
  
Harry felt great, cooling off in the lake, with no classes. They should do this more often, he thought. He looked at Hermione who was on her back now, sitting up halfway. She had defiantly gotten his attention. He had no idea she would wear something like that and her hair was lighter from the sun.  
  
Ron splashed the icy lake water in his face, "Hey! What's up?" he sputtered.  
  
Ron spoke, "You! You're checking Hermione out, aren't you?"  
  
"It's not like you haven't already," Harry smiled.  
  
Ron's ears went pink.  
  
Hermione sat out a while longer when she just remember something. She thought about it. It was way too daring for her, but she should take a chance right? But Harry stood up to get out of the water and she held back. No, she thought, if he says no, I'd be mortified. Now he was coming towards her. Yes. No. He passed her to go to the castle when her stupid mouth made the decision for her.  
  
"Harry! Harry, wait up!" She skipped up to him," I...um, well, do you remember that letter? The one you wrote to me?"  
  
"Yeah." He wasn't sure where this was going.  
  
"Well, I............just wanted to um, well, can we talk??" Now she started to blush horribly, wishing she never said anything. But she had to tell him how she felt, before she lost the courage all over again.  
  
Harry didn't know what she wanted but he guessed it wouldn't be that bad to give up a few minutes to talk. It was weird, he was almost wishing for Ron to be next to him, telling Hermione to talk to him later, but he wasn't. "Uhh, yeah sure.........is something wrong?"  
  
"No, not at all," She said. She tried to seem confident and comfortable with this but she felt like running away. She grabbed her towel and walked off with him.  
  
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````` Ok hang in there, I'll type up the next chapter soon, but for now, I'm out! 


	5. Split Decisions

Ok, this is chapter 5, the answers to allll your questions..or will it keep you hanging even longer..??  
  
Ok that sounded Sci Fi-ish!! Well I don't know when the next one will be up after that, I have school. BOO! Ok anyways, well my thx to the reviewers, I wrote back in the review section actually, ok well here it is.  
  
``````````````````````````````````  
  
They decided to get out of the sun before they fried, and to go under the shade. There was a shadowy bunch of trees where they sat under. They didn't speak for a while, while they laid the towels out and sat down. At first, no one really talked. Harry wanted to ask her about what she wanted but he just waited.  
  
"So....when it your next Quidditch game?" Hermione blurted out. She couldn't tell him right away, so she just acted casual.  
  
"Oh. Um, well, lately we've been practicing for the next match against Hufflepuff----," Harry continued but he knew that this wasn't all that Hermione wanted to know.  
  
Hermione acted like she listened intensely when really she was trying to think about what to say next. She tried to think straight but the words kept getting mixed up in her mind. She tried to think about exactly what she'd tell him, he had to know. Everytime she wanted to interrupt Harry to confess to him, the thought of him not liking her back kept creeping in her mind.  
  
Harry kept on talking, and then they would go on to another subject, which didn't really mean much. Harry wanted to stop and ask her what she needed to tell him but he couldn't get himself to do it. It would seem so rude. But he wanted to hurry up so he could go back and swim in the lake. He looked over her shoulder occasionally to see what everyone else was doing in the water.  
  
She saw him look over at the lake a couple times and knew that he wanted to go back. She wanted to also, but she knew that she had to tell him now. She went over what she would say to him once in her hand and opened her mouth, when Harry spoke right before her.  
  
"Hermione, can you honestly tell me why you brought me over here?" He asked and put his hand on top of hers sincerely.  
  
Her brain froze and she took a double take down at her hand. Everything she had planned out to say was gone and she couldn't remember one word of it. Now she knew she had to do something, and the first thing she thought of was to run away from him. But her legs were frozen on the spot and she couldn't just leave, she'd look so dumb. She didn't want to prove Ginny right by liking Harry. Oh forget that, Hermione thought, she's not here is she? She wanted to say something but could she really tell him by...telling him? She could barely talk.  
  
Her mind kept trying to reason with her just to tell him it was nothing, but she had to forget about how logical this action would be and let her heart take over. She didn't say anything, but she moved closer to him.  
  
Harry didn't know what to do, so that's what he exactly did. Nothing. What was she doing? Well, maybe she likes you, his conscious told him. No. No. No way, he thought but what else would she be trying to be closer to him?  
  
"Harry, I got to tell you something important, but I don't know how," She said. She was a victim to his eyes and she wanted to remember every little thing about them. The urge to kiss him was tempting and her conscious was daring her to do it: Kiss him...now.  
  
I told you, Harry told himself, but he argued right back. No. There are tons of other reasonable stuff she would like to talk about, right?  
  
He was split in two. One side almost wanted Hermione to tell him that she liked him, and the other hoped she just wanted to borrow one of his homework assignments.  
  
She slowly got closer and was so close to his face her lips could of brushed his face. She just wanted to tell him, but all she could do was say one word.  
  
"Harry?"  
  
She slowly moved towards his mouth, knowing this was exactly what she wanted.  
  
She got to his delicate lips. Finally. But someone leaned back.  
  
Harry couldn't do this. Hermione, for Pete's sake? She was his best friend and he couldn't let her kiss him.  
  
He gently got up and said, "I need to leave." And he left. But as he walked away, his insides throbbed and he felt pain all over for his stupid, cowardly move. Maybe this was what if felt like to like someone in such a close way. He punched himself mentally in the stomach.  
  
She was so close she could feel his breath but now he was headed for the school and so far away. Her throat was choked up, but she wasn't crying. She felt numb and was almost sure he would of stayed and kissed her back at this moment.  
  
````````````````````  
  
Hmmm, well I hope you like it better this way!!!! 


	6. Harry Potter in the Chamber of Regret

Yay! Reviews galore! Wow I'm so happy I have so many readers.well, any number of readers are a lot to me. I'm not sure how many chapters I'll have. I know kinda where this story is going, but not exactly how I'm going to end it. I have the next two or three chapters planned out, and an even have an idea what's going on after that. But I really don't have an exact number of chapters I'm going for.  
  
Hey and if I spell Hermione wrong, sorry, darn that long name! ;) Oh yeah this is more of a Harry chapter.. Ok I can blab on and on, but who wants to hear that? Avast! LOL~  
  
`````````````````````````````````  
  
Harry didn't go exactly back to Hogwarts. He had to walk around and think before he stayed all night in the rooms. He finally got to Hagrid's hut and leaned against one of its brick walls.  
  
How could he have been so insane? He wished he hadn't walked away from her. But he was still dumbstuck that Hermione, his best friend, Hermione liked him like that! She was probably crying. If she really did have emotions like that towards him, he thought, than he was horrible. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her at all. Well my chance is over, he thought, I've either lost a good friend or I she just gets over me. Either way, I lose. The worse part was, was he realized his feelings for her too late.  
  
He didn't want to stay outside much longer, incase Hermione or anyone else saw him. So he wrapped his towel around him and knocked on Hagrid's door. He was always the right person to be around, he just wouldn't tell him of anything that had happened.  
  
"Oh hello there, Harry, come in," Hagrid said motioning him in, his shaggy beard all over the place, "Looks like you've bin in the lake. Have a good time?"  
  
"At first."  
  
Hermione finally got up after Harry was out of sight for a few minutes. She had been trying hard not to cry, but there was a lump in her throat. She'd never felt so low in her life. Everytime she tried something, she got through with it. This was one of the first times she had ever failed at something.  
  
She went down by the lake again where everyone else was having a blast. She stepped in and swam around. The water was getting colder the later it got. She tried to distract herself by thinking how cold the water was instead of how Harry's hand felt on hers. He felt like she had to hate him, but she didn't, and wondered why she even tried a move like that on him. But deep inside, if she had the chance again, she would do it. For now, she didn't want to look at him, his eyes would stab right though hers. The water was fine for now, but the truth was she was only in there, incase she had to hide her tears when she had short impulses to cry.  
  
The sun was setting and mostly everyone was starting to pick up their stuff and leave, so she left with them, trying to be a nobody.  
  
They were on their second cup of tea while Hagrid spoke about this and that. Harry listened in and out, most of the time though, he thought about what would of happened if he stayed and wasn't such a idiot.  
He looked outside through Hagrid's window, acting like he was listening. The sky had drastically grown dark and stars were already poking out of the black nothingness. The paths were magically lit and he could see a group of his classmates walking towards the entrance. One of them was Hermione.  
  
She was wet again, but he could barely make her out without his glasses on. He couldn't think about her anymore without his chest swelling up in agony. He kept replaying certain moments in his head. Right before he left, he remembered his heart jolt when her moved in towards his lips, not sure if it was out of excitement or surprise.  
  
"Harry, are yeh alright? You haven't touched your tea," Hagrid asked, snapping Harry out of his personal thoughts.  
  
"Y-yeah, I'm alright, but I got to go. I'll see you sometime later, Hagrid. Goodnight," Harry said and he was out the door in a flash. After he got out thought, he walked slowly with his hands in his pockets, to his room, not wanting to be around anyone anytime soon.  
  
The Common Room was lit up again by the fireplace, and only a few people were sitting down with schoolwork. How come he hadn't realized Hermione liked him before today? That night when she did his essay, Hermoine never does that for anyone...except him. He did notice she was looking at him, but before now, he didn't think it was anything important. It was also the same night his scar hurt and the next morning it was fine. But that didn't have anything to do with it, did it?  
  
He stopped asking himself these questions and climbed up the stairs, to tired to think. He rolled into his bed with his swim clothes still on. Ron was in bed, but obviously wasn't asleep.  
  
"Hey, where were you and Hermione when everyone else was at the lake?? It was awesome and you were there for about, five minutes," Ron said, trying not to wake anyone else up.  
  
"I.had to make something up for Hermione for that one time. I had to help her--in the library," Harry lied.  
  
"Geez, did she bring it up? Because she can ruin everyone's day, some point or another."  
  
"No I did."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I brought it up....I sort of messed up her day... a lot," Harry bit his lip hard, not wanting to talk falsely to his best friend.  
  
"Oh...alright then, well it's late. Night," And a few minutes later, Harry could tell he was asleep by the way he was snorting.  
  
Harry wished this day would rewind its self so he could redo his mistakes. He hurt both of his friends, by breaking Hermione's heart and lying to Ron. But he couldn't tell Ron what had happened. Ron knew Harry too well and if he knew, he would figure out soon after that Harry liked her back.  
  
``````  
  
Hee hee hee! Well I know what's coming and hate to leave you hanging, but it's late and there is the dreaded school that takes me away from here. Hope you come back afterwards to read the next chapters!!! 


	7. L'amour Fleurit

Thank you lord, it's Friday!!!! *church bells* Funny thing is, is that I don't even go to church! ;) I'm so happy, school is gone for about 2 ½ days and I get to write, write, write! Oh yeah and if I mess up with punctuation or spelling, sorry, I'm not the Grammar Queen! ;)  
  
Well, this chapter is sorta Hermione's view on it, and a lil' something, not sure what yet, but I'll make it up as I write..or type in this case.  
  
I kinda wanted Draco in this story, but he'd just be a nuisance in the story, so sorry all you Draco/Tom Felton or whatever fans!  
  
Yeah, and for the rest of the chapters I'm going to type without the little 'tab' thing when there is a paragraph, dunno if you get what I mean but who cares, here's the next chapter.  
  
Hermione dragged with the group going to the Gryffendor Tower. Her feelings were all mixed up. First she felt like she was to blame, then Harry. Then she felt like crying, or punching someone out if they came near her. Now she didn't care and all she wanted to do what get out of her wet, clinging bathing suit and get under her covers to forget about today.  
  
It was 11 o'clock when she finally went to bed. Some girls, like Ginny, were chatting in hushed, giddy voices about their day, or some boy they liked. It stopped after a while; the room was full of sleeping, relaxed breathing. It was almost dead silent when Ginny whispered to her, "Hey, Hermione. You up?"  
  
She didn't want to answer and acted like she was asleep. This was her alone time with her own mind and body. But her emotions took over her at the late of night, when the whole day overwhelmed her. She was crying and when she tried to keep quiet, her voice accidentally squeaked in her throat.  
  
"Hermione? Are...are you ok?  
  
She knew Ginny knew she was awake, so she choked out an answer.  
  
"N-no."  
  
She couldn't keep it in any longer. She couldn't pretend she was perfectly fine when it felt like someone ripped her insides out.  
  
"Hermione?" Ginny asked again, worried, and she got up to sit behind her, Hermione's back turned, "What happened?"  
  
Hermione sat up, her hair sticking to her wet face, "You w-were right. I did like.Harry--- and, and I made a huge mistake."  
  
Ginny said nothing and put her arm around her. It felt good to have Ginny here like an older sister, while she babbled on like a little girl who lost her parents.  
  
"I-thought, just maybe, that...that he had the same feel-feelings towards me like I did with---with him." Now she was hiccuping and gulping for air, wanting to let it all out.  
  
"So...so I, I---," Ginny stopped her short. "You don't need to tell me, Hermione. You can keep it to yourself, some things you should. I don't know what to tell you. I don't think a stupid mistake could ruin your friendship right?" Ginny said but Hermione spun around.  
  
"It wasn't a stupid mistake! It was how I felt! And how do you know if we'll be friends or not?! Who said I wanted to be anyways after what happened?!" She exploded, and some of the girls stirred and groaned in their sleep.  
  
Ginny backed away and headed for her bed, "You don't need to take it out on me! See, I know I don't know what happened between you two, but what I do know is that you're hurting and all I was doing was trying to comfort you. But obviously that's not good enough," She hissed back, whipping herself into bed.  
  
"Ginny, look, I'm sorry. I'm just having a....never mind. I didn't mean to snap at you, goodnight." Hermione said. She knew Ginny might have still been mad at her after she apologized, but she had to say something.  
  
Ginny never knew why she put up with Hermione sometimes, but she couldn't stay too mad. She lived in a house full of boys and she was the closest thing to a sister she had.  
  
"Goodnight, Hermione. Get some sleep."  
  
Halloween came and went. The trees changed colors, from dull green to vibrant reds and oranges. Then November came and left also, leaving a miserable chill in the air. Flurries of snow swirled by the time mid- December came by.  
  
Harry and Hermione weren't ignoring each other, but they weren't really talking either. There was an occasional, "Hello", in the morning, a "sorry" if they bumped into each other, and even a, "thank you", when they passed food to each other at dinnertime. Hermione didn't have a desire to talk to him about. What would they talk about anyway? It had been about two months since then but she still kept her mouth shut. It was killing Harry, though. The silence at dinner or in the Common Room between them. He wanted to say at least something, but he didn't know what.  
  
Ron noticed they weren't talking as much. They both suddenly got quiet. He didn't bring anything thing up about it, so he tried to fire up a conservation between them every now and then.  
  
Christmas inched closer and the excitement from everyone warmed Hogwarts and could have melted the snow. Ron decided to stay in sake of Harry because he knew Harry had to have someone around that would talk to him. Hermione owled her parents she wanted to stay at Hogwarts this year for the holiday. Her parents would have been cheerful and they would have realized the alter in her mood. Her parents shouldn't see her moping around.  
  
It was the night before Christmas. The halls and rooms were decorated with the whole Christmas theme: Santa, mistletoe, and little gifts hidden everywhere. The Common Room was buzzing with overjoyed whispers about the next day and it slowly died out with the fire in the hearth.  
  
Hermione couldn't go to sleep. She was busy thinking of Christmas, school coming up again, and of Harry. In the middle of the room, a huge pine tree was glittering with ornaments and candy canes. She sat in front of it, almost reminding herself of when she was younger. She'd wait for morning, only to be asleep and miss Santa's arrival. But this time she sat there because of the smell. She loved the smell of fresh pine.  
  
Harry heard someone go down to the Common Room, and he half hoped it was Hermione. There was only one way to see. He crept out of bed and when he reached the middle of the stairs, he peeked over to the room. Hermione was there and she was in front of the tree, stretched out.  
  
He decided this probably wasn't a right time to disrupt her, so he sneakily stepped back up. He almost made it until he set his foot down on one of the steps. It squeaked loudly, and Hermione turned around to see what it was. Harry returned back down, knowing she most likely heard him.  
  
He came down the stairs and she returned her look to the pine branches in front of her. She didn't want to look like she was waiting for him to come down. He walked around the couches and sat on one, right in front of the fire.  
  
They did not talk and listened to the noises outside the windows and the cracking of the fire and wood. Then the clock chimed 12 times. It was officially midnight, officially Christmas Day. Presents for everyone magically appeared from under the tree and Hermione had to move out of the way for the endless stacks of gifts from parents, friends....  
  
"Happy Christmas," Harry said, but he still stayed faced towards the fire.  
  
"À vous aussi," Hermione mumbled.  
  
"What?" Harry asked, not really what she said was English.  
  
"It's French for 'To you as well'," She said, finally looking over to him.  
  
"I didn't know you could speak French," Harry said. He had been friends with her for almost 5 years and he just found this out?  
  
"Just a little, I picked it up here and there," She said.  
  
She looked over at the presents, tied with bows and ribbons. She spotted a little gift with her name on it. It wouldn't hurt if she opened just one present. It was wrapped with a Gryffendor theme paper, bright red with the lion shining boldly. She picked it up and she started to rip it open.  
  
"It's from me," Harry abruptly said. Hermione turned to him, not even knowing he was still watching her.  
  
She continued to unwrap until she got to a thin white box. Inside was Hogsmeade's finest chocolate. She closed it, wanting to save it until later.  
  
"Thanks, you shouldn't of, though," She said, thinking about what she got for him. She had gotten a while ago, before the lake event.  
  
"It's not much, but I thought you'd like it," Harry said and he got up to go over to see where his presents were, if there were any. He found one from Hermione and started to tear the paper, but Hermione put her hand on the present.  
  
"You've got to wait 'till morning!" She said, trying to be serious, but she was smiling.  
  
"Well, what about you? You---aww, never mind, I'll wait." He set the present down under the tree. He was so lighthearted now that they were talking like normal friends. But he knew that they both were bothered by what had happened in the past. "Hermione, I hope you know I'm sorry."  
  
She acted like she didn't hear him and started to get up, "Well goodnight, and happy Christmas, again." She stood up and walked towards the stairs when Harry said,  
  
"À vous aussi." She looked over at him skeptically, but smirked at him in a friendly way. "I picked it up somewhere," He said and he got up also.  
  
"Goodnight," He said in a whisper, and he grabbed her elbows and brought her in. He then kissed her slightly, but tenderly on the lips. This was not what she was expecting but it was much more than she thought it would of felt like. The pain she held in her chest for months, lifted and she felt stronger inside. His kiss, though, made her feel vulnerable and exposed to him and she let him hold her.  
  
It felt like a long time before they pulled away, only it to be a few seconds. The desire for each other had suddenly let go. Harry didn't know why he even resisted against her in the first place. He looked at her, and her eyes were still closed when they pulled away. He let go of one of her arms and kissed her cheek. Then he left her to be as he walked up the steps.  
  
Hermione opened her eyes when he kissed her cheek and watched him leave. She knew this was better than any gift than she could ever have and she had only opened one.  
  
Well what a happy chapter! It makes me feel fuzzy inside. Ok not really, but I love this chapter.  
  
In case you're wondering, the chapter title is a fancy French phrase, translated it's: 'Love is Blooming'.  
  
Come back anytime when I have it updated!! ;) 


	8. Christmas Day and Night

Well, I was having a little bit of writer's block for this chapter. So hopefully this chapter is good, well it should be, it's Christmas in Hogwarts! Only about 4 months for us!  
  
Hey for the French speakers, I'm sure the title for chapter #7 is right...if it's not, could you tell me what it's supposed to be?  
  
Oh yeah big note for you readers. READ THIS, READ THIS:: This story is now taking place in H/Hr 6TH year, not 5th!!! I realized that my story would work better if it were 6th year. And, this story is going a little longer than I thought, so yay! More to read!  
  
K, here's technically chapter 8! ``````````````````  
  
Ron woke up from his bed and immediately down the hall. A group of Gryffendors were already down there, opening their presents. He noticed that there was more kids staying over the holiday every year. It was 8:16 AM, which he considered late for opening Christmas presents. He ran back up the stairs and next to Harry's bed.  
  
"Harry, Harry, wake up! It's Christmas!" Ron shook Harry's side and Harry mumbled groggily.  
  
"Come on! There's presents!" Ron shouted and he sat and bounced on the end of Harry's bed.  
  
"You act so immature at times, you know?" Harry said smiling, as he picked up his pillow and threw it at Ron's face.  
  
They went downstairs where there was a pile of unopened presents. Ron ripped through his like there was no tomorrow. Harry went through his a little slower, enjoying each one. He got presents from Ron, Mrs. Weasley, and little gadgets and tricks from Fred and George. The Dursley's didn't bother to get Harry anything again, but they had sent an envelope. Inside was a letter saying: Happy Christmas, in fast, sloppy letters. At least they took the time to lick a stamp for me, Harry thought. There was also presents from Ginny, Hagrid, and Remus. Lastly, he grabbed Hermione's half- opened package he tried to open the night before. He bit his tongue trying not to smile about last night in front of Ron. He ripped through the silver paper, and opened the lid to the small gold box.  
  
He thought he saw something spring out and realize it did when he saw nothing in the box. He looked around the tree for it, when Ron spotted it.  
  
"Whoa! Watch it!" Ron warned as the thing flew around furniture and the giant pine tree.  
  
Harry jumped up and caught it as it struggled in his hand. It felt strangely familiar to a Snitch in Quidditch, and he looked down at it. That's because it was a Snitch.  
  
The tiny, golden speed demon looked just like the Snitch he chased after for in his games. It was much newer but something else was different about it. In the middle of the golden orb was his name engraved into it in elegant cursive: Harry Potter. On the bottom of the box it flew out of was a note.  
  
______________________  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I got this Snitch in Diagon Alley and had it personalized for you. Hope it helps you practice for your games!  
  
Love, Hermione  
  
PS: To get it to come to you, you need to whistle. ______________________  
  
"From Hermione, huh? It's pretty wicked," Ron commented as he picked through his box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.  
  
"Yeah, isn't she?" Harry said, reading the note again.  
  
"I said the Snitch," Ron said raising his eyebrow at Harry.  
  
"I---I meant the Snitch. Isn't that what I said?" Harry asked and he let it dart around the room.  
  
`````````````````  
  
Hermione looked at the clock on the wall from her bed. It read 9:22 AM and all the girls in the room were going over there opened presents. Ginny hopped over with her mum's homemade sweater on.  
  
"Hey, sleepy head, what are you waiting for? You've got gifts to unwrap!" Ginny smiled, and she set her gift for her on her nightstand.  
  
"Happy Christmas," Ginny said, and she sat there waiting for Hermione to speak, "What are you thinking about?" She asked curiously.  
  
"Honestly? Well...Harry," Hermione said, curling up in her warm bed.  
  
"Herm, you've got to get over him, look at you! You're moping around in bed on Christmas because of him!" Ginny exclaimed and she returned to her presents.  
  
Hermione grinned and knew that last night should be kept secret.  
  
````````````````  
  
The feast for that night was filling. There were turkeys and roast beefs, and vegetables of all sorts. Everything was there and the desserts afterwards filled them up. At the Common Room, everyone was tired from the excitement and headed to bed early. Hermione stayed downstairs with the girls for a while and after they left, she fell asleep on the couch.  
  
Harry was up in his dorm for a while, watching his Snitch zoom above his head. He thought about Hermione for a while, when he had an idea. He wanted to try out his new Snitch tonight, so he got out his dad's invisibility cloak. He left his window open. His plan was to go invisible with the Snitch through the school until he got outside. Then he would call his broom to him and practice.  
  
He wrapped the cloak around him and put the Snitch in his pocket, his wand in the other. He crept out of the dormitory and into the Common Room. He walked past the fireplace when he noticed Hermione sleeping on the sofa. He looked at her for a while, and then realizing he had to go.  
  
Hermione was sleeping light and heard the stairs squeak. She tried to close her eyes and go to sleep but she couldn't. Then she heard the portrait door open. She sat up, but didn't see anyone.  
  
"Hello?" She called out, feeling silly that she was probably talking to nothing.  
  
Harry stopped and turned around. Hermione was up and looking around. He whipped his invisibility cloak off. Hermione almost jumped, seeing Harry appear out of nowhere.  
  
"What are you doing?!"  
  
"I was going out."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, I thought about trying out the Snitch you got me...."  
  
"Oh, well...I can't sleep, so could I come? You know, to watch?"  
  
"Uh, yeah sure."  
  
Hermione sat up and walked up to him. There was an uncomfortable moment, but then Harry threw the cloak over both of them. They walked out of the portrait hole and into the dark halls of Hogwarts.  
  
```````````````````````  
  
K, I'll be back to update... ;) 


	9. Ten Miles Over the Snitch Limit

Three day weekend, here I come! Whoo hoo! But anyways, here's the chapter that took me forever to write, I dunno why, I just didn't know what to do at one part. Oh well.  
  
Oh yeah thx for telling me I was spelling Gryffindor wrong, I thought it looked wrong..........hopefully I spelled it right, right now. ;)  
  
```````````````````````````````````  
  
They walked through the halls and down the staircases silently. The cloak kept them both covered, but inside the air was getting hot and thick. They were on the main floor when they saw Professor Snape and Filch walking around on watch. When the coast was clear, they slipped through the door and outside Hogwarts. They walked to the side of the school until Harry threw the cloak off.  
  
"I wonder why they were out at night," Hermione said, mostly to herself out loud.  
  
"Probably looking for people like us," Harry said, grinning.  
  
He took his wand out and pointed it to the window he left open and called for his broom: Accio Broom! It zoomed out of the window and hovered by Harry's side.  
  
He gripped the handle and took out his Snitch, "Umm, are you sure you just want to watch? I mean, if you want, I can try to, umm..........fit you on too?" Harry asked.  
  
"Well, I think I'd slide off the end," Hermione said, skeptically.  
  
"You could hold on," Harry said bluntly and he swung his leg over his Firebolt.  
  
She wasn't sure the broom could support her, but she wanted to try anyways. She got on behind him. There was barely any handle left to hold on too.  
  
Harry kicked off the ground and surprisingly the broom flew up slowly, with no problem at all. Hermione tried to hold on to the little handle room in front of her, but it was no use. She wobbled and almost slid off sideways and grabbed for Harry's robes.  
  
"I can't stay on!!!" Hermione panicked as they rose higher.  
  
"Well, stop being.........'Hermione' for once and put your hands around me!" He chuckled. Without hesitation (in fear of falling off), she had her arms around his waist.  
  
Harry released his grip from holding the Snitch and it lay there on his palm for a second. Shortly afterwards, it zipped around them and darted between the Hogwarts towers.  
  
He took off with as much speed like he would in his Quidditch games, but after a cry from Hermione, he slowed it down a bit. Every once in a while that he caught eye on the Snitch, he sped up, just to scare Hermione a little. The faster he got, the tighter she clung on. So evidently, he kept doing it.  
  
She had started to sweat when they lifted off the safe, solid round, but the wind whipping at her face had cooled her off. She knew she was making Harry go a lot slower that he would usually go. At this speed they would never catch up with the Snitch.  
  
"You can speed up, now that I'm holding on, you know?" Hermione commented, acting cool, when really this whole heights thing was making her flip.  
  
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Ha asked turning around to make sure she wasn't pale or green in the face. The wind had blown her hair back away from her pink cheeks. He tried not to stare at her brilliant eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Se said and she pointed to the Snitch zooming above them. It looked like a planet silhouetted against the stars and the black nothingness. He made sure she was holding on and in a split second, he swerved his broom upward. He took less than a minute to catch the Snitch; he had become such an advanced Seeker over the years.  
  
He stuck the Snitch back in his robe pocket and descended down towards the earth. He let Hermione get off first, then himself.  
  
"Your hair is a mess," Harry said, as she ran her fingers through it to get it back to normal.  
  
"Like yours is any better," She smiled and she picked up the Invisibility Cloak they had left neatly folded on the ground. She gave it to Harry and tried to smooth out his messy, stubborn hair. No use, but she didn't care. He put his hand on her cheek, knowing that being outside alone in the middle of the might was the perfect time to kiss her. She leaned in wanting the same thing. Harry held back though, just when he heard something near by.  
  
"What? What is it?" Hermione asked, looking behind her.  
  
"Get under the cloak," And he threw the thin cloak over their heads.  
  
They waited a minute or two. Nothing.  
  
"Harry, I don't hear anything," She said.  
  
"Yeah, maybe there isn't anything," He mumbled, feeling stupid.  
  
She had wanted him to kiss her earlier, before they got under the cloak. He was still looking around cautiously, his wand in one hand, the broom in another, and the Snitch in his pocket. This was perfect. If anyone was out there, who would see them now? She turned to him and he seemed to notice. Now all she had to do was to have the guts to kiss his again.  
  
He stopped looking around and looked at her eager eyes wanting to embrace him. She took his Firebolt from him and obviously couldn't wait any longer.  
  
Her lips were on his and he was infatuated with being near her, or touching her skin. He blindly reached up to her face while their mouths were locked. A burning numbness went through him at every movement they made. Maybe, maybe we're going too fast, he thought. Too fast? He had known her for how long? It felt like hours as they silently 'whispered' intimately through their lips, hoping the other one realized how much they loved one another.  
  
Harry forgot all about what he heard.........until he heard it again. His brain forced himself to stop and think about anything besides Hermione.  
  
"I swear, that time I heard something," He whispered.  
  
"Harry, I really---wait, I just did," She flashed her eyes around, not moving, "Someone's out here."  
  
Se looked down at the ground, "Harry, your leg," She hissed and he noticed the cloak wasn't covering half of his leg. He adjusted it to become fully invisible but he was too late.  
  
The cloak was snatched off, visible to any eyes that stood in front of them. 


	10. Caught RedHanded

Please excuse my writing in this chapter, it's not my best, I personally think. I don't like it when I can tell I wrote it, if you know what I mean. I like to touch it up and make it really descriptive but lately I don't have the time, which really bites. But I am learning more French, which I love. Ok well, thanks to the readers, I'm just so flattered *blush*. K, here it is.....or 'Voila'! Ok had to do that...  
  
*One big note on the story* I forgot to mention in the last chapter: Harry used his wand to send his broom back in his room. I know that's not much, but it will make more sense a little bit in the beginning of this one.  
  
`````````````````````````  
  
Right when the cloak was pulled off, Hermione and Harry immediately took their hands off each other. The cold night's breeze stung their faces as their eyes adjusted to the figure standing in front of them.  
  
"Well, well, well. This does not---look---right. You two should be in your beds, but instead you're out here, in the middle of...the night," A deep voice hissed slowly and in front of them was the teacher Harry most despised, Professor Snape, almost grinning at the thought of catching them.  
  
"I, we were-----," Harry started but Snape continued harshly.  
  
"Get that thing out of your pocket," Snape spat and Harry silently handed over Hermione's gift, "So, this is the reason you two are out here? For a midnight joy-ride, hmm?" He said and stuffed the Snitch deep into his pocket.  
  
"You see, sir, I was---," Hermione tried to explain until Snape pierced her with his menacing eyes.  
  
"I didn't ask for your tongue, Ms. Granger. Now for being out after hours, punishments will be made by me. Hopefully it will teach you to stay in your room and control your hormones." Snape sneered and he motioned them to follow behind his black cape, whipping with the wind.  
  
Hermione pinched herself not to give him a piece of her mind, mostly to prevent further punishments. At this age, she hated it when adults referred to her of having, 'raging hormones' or what not. It made her sound like a mindless idiot who had nothing else better to do other than think about sex, sex, sex.  
  
Harry cursed at Snape mentally and clenched his fists when he saw his Snitch and his father's cloak in his slimy hands. He didn't get it. How did he catch them? With the cloak, the plan was flawless.  
  
"If you were wondering, Ms. Granger," Snape turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter, if you're going to sneak out unnoticed, you should remember to close the door to the Grounds after you, on your way out."  
  
Real smart move Harry, just great, he thought.  
  
Professor Snape brought them to his office in the Dungeons where Filch and Professor McGonagall were waiting for them. Snape explained the whole matter, adding his own comments to make it sound a lot worse than it really was. Harry inhaled deeply, relieved that Hermione and him was under the cloak while they intimately embraced each other. If Snape saw that...he would of never of lived it down.  
  
"I am very ashamed of you two, ESPECIALLY you two---Potter, Granger. What were you thinking? You should know by now that going out after hours is prohibited. Now, for your punishments," McGonagall explained while Filch and Snape stood back and watched. Ms. Norris leaped from Filch's arms and slithered her way between Harry and Hermione's legs. Her tail teased them while the professors described their punishments.  
  
"First, the house points. Forty points will be taken away each, which sounds reasonable. For your detentions---what do you think, Severus?" McGonagall pivoted her heel to Snape.  
  
"Well, let's say...two months worth, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Mr. Potter will unfortunately be with me in the Dungeons and Ms. Granger...," Snape glared maliciously, "You'll spend your evenings up in the Astronomy Tower, with Professor Trelawney." Hermione bit her tongue down hard to force herself not to protest.  
  
Harry could tell McGonagall was a little upset with his overly long punishment but she was still very disappointed with them, "Starting tomorrow at 7 o'clock PM, you will go to your instructed areas. I will escort you back to the Gryffindor Tower." McGonagall said sternly and Hermione and Harry got up to leave.  
  
As they walked through the dimly lit halls, Harry and Hermione exchanged glances, understanding what their looks each meant. The two months of detention was ridiculously long and of course, they set it up so they would be on opposite sides of the castle.  
  
Professor McGonagall led them back to the Fat Lady Portrait and folded her arms, "I expect after your detentions, you will learn not to do this again. I hope you know I hate to do this to you on Christmas Day. Good night," She said and walked off with her high-heels clacking on the stone tile.  
  
They spoke the password and climbed through. They mumbled goodnight to each other and climbed up separate stairs to their rooms. Harry was halfway up when he spun around, remembering something. "Hermione!" Harry whispered loudly and he ran down the stairs.  
  
"Harry, I'm sorry," She said and she continued up the stairs, feeling useless that she couldn't do anything.  
  
Harry knew that there was no reason to try to get out or reason with McGonagall, and figured Hermione already thought about it. He hated Snape even more now that he was probably locking up his Invisibility Cloak and his brand new Snitch. I didn't even have it for twenty-hour hours, he thought angrily and walked up to his bed.  
  
```````````  
  
Hermione tried to fall asleep with the thought of detention with Trelawney on her mind. But it kept her up longer, the more she dreaded it. So she daydreamed---more like 'night'-dreamed---about Harry. She never really realized how obsessively in love she was with him until now. She thought about him all the time, but she hated to use that word: love. It was too strong of a word, but what else could she use? She knew she didn't just 'like' him, and it felt stronger than 'lust'. Did she love him? How will she ever know if she does? She couldn't compare his kisses to anything else she felt, and just being in his presence made her heart skip a beat. Maybe she wasn't in love, but if she ever was, she would know.  
  
```````````  
  
Harry slipped into his covers, fuming. Snape just HAD to ruin his night by taking his personal possessions and interrupting his time with Hermione. Well, it could have been worse, he thought, as he turned to Hedwig, who was twitching and clicking her beak in her sleep.  
  
He guessed that it was around two o'clock, but he was still wide-awake. Ron was mumbling in his sleep and he flipped over, rolling right off his bed.  
  
"Uhhhhoooooo...my head," Ron moaned and he muttered jumbled nonsense as he got up, rubbing his forehead, "H-H-Harry, you up?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm here," Harry sighed, "You rolled right off your bed. Sure you don't have a concussion?" Harry laughed quietly.  
  
"Maybe only slight," Ron said jokingly, "What are you doing up?"  
  
"Uh---well, make sure I tell you tomorrow, ok?" Harry asked but Ron mumbled slightly and fell right asleep.  
  
Harry smiled and finally got comfortable on his bed. He knew he had to tell Ron soon about what happened before Ron found out on his own. Harry needed to tell someone, and he had the sickest feeling in his stomach, wishing he had his dad to talk to with. He quickly erased that thought away and Harry took one last glance at the stars outside his window, and it reminded him of Hermione. He wasn't sure why, though. He just knew that they were both uniquely beautiful, and with that he closed his eyes.  
  
`````````````````````  
  
Hopefully that wasn't too long and boring. ;) Everytime I write I think of something new to write and my favorite part is coming up in the next few chapters....I never thought this story would be this long! 


	11. Secret's Out

READ: a/n: Ok well the more I read over my story the more I really didn't like the beginning. It just seemed so out of character for Hermione and so I've changed it. I rewrote chapters 4, mostly all of 5, and a little of 6, incase you want to go back and read it. Hope it's better  
  
Please hang in here! I've actually got about 3 chapters written out on paper and it's just finding the time to type is what's killing me, so yeah this story is getting good! ;)  
  
Oh yeah PS: To that one reviewer, boys can't go up the girl dorm stairs. In the 5th book it says so when Ron tries climbing up them only to slide right down.  
  
PPS: Don't really take this chapter too seriously, cos I didn't! ;) """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""  
  
The next morning the three met down at the Great Hall for breakfast. It was dark and gray outside and rays of sunlight poked through the smoky wisps of clouds. Harry and Hermione were already downstairs talking quietly, blushing everytime they laughed, when Ron came up and threw his books on the table. Harry went back and continued to pick at his food while Hermione turned to her homework, which suddenly became interesting.  
  
"Have you two started McGonagall's assignment? It's torture!" Ron complained while he served up spoonfuls of scrambled eggs. He shook his long red hair out of his eyes, "Heya Harry, weren't 'cha going to tell me something? I honestly don't remember much last night, I was so tired after..." Ron continued.  
  
Hermione shot Harry a look with her wide eyes and shook her head in warning. She knew that Ron really shouldn't know about them now. Harry nudged her and moved her eyes over to Ron. She realized he had stopped talking and eyed them suspiciously.  
  
"What's going up? I mean I heard from Ginny that you, Hermione, had detention! Since when?" Ron said, stuffing bacon in his mouth. Harry glanced at Hermione with the same look she gave him earlier, only in a mocking way. She had forgotten for a minute that she slightly mentioned about her detention to Ginny (but she didn't say why).  
  
"Well, Ron, I...I have detention too," Harry said slowly.  
  
"Oh...what did you guys do? Beat up a Slytherin while I wasn't around?" Ron chuckled.  
  
"No, it's not like that. You see, "Hermione lowered her voice and shifted uncomfortably, "Me and Harry, well, last night, he decided to take his dad's cloak. I couldn't sleep, but there's more---," Hermione said but was interrupted by Ron.  
  
"Wait a minute," Ron said cautiously and he stopped for a while and looked at both of them. Until his face screwed up in a look that a five-year old would give if they saw their parents kissing," Bloody hell! You've got to be kidding! I mean------awww no!!" Ron said loudly and some students from the other tables turned around to look.  
  
"Ron! Do you need to shout!?" Hermione said sharply, but Ron got up and left without his books.  
  
"Wait right here," Harry said and he grabbed Ron's books and ran after him.  
  
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
  
Ron was already outside the Fat Lady's Portrait when Harry caught up to him, out of breath.  
  
"Ron! Ron, stop! I need to explain!" Harry gasped and Ron turned around to him.  
  
"Explain what? You and Hermione have been sneaking out in the middle of the night for months, snogging?" Ron said and he still looked a little disgusted.. "I mean, has the world gone mad or what? This isn't supposed to happen!"  
  
Harry stopped Ron from climbing into the Gryffindor Common Room, "Then what? What's supposed to happen??"  
  
"Not this!" Ron shouted and then he calmed down, "It's just, I could never of seen this happening. I mean, YOU and Hermione? Maybe I could see a little something was there, but not enough for you guys to---"  
  
"Ron, is it because you like Hermione?" Harry asked bluntly.  
  
"What?! ME! Hermione?" Ron yelled but Harry didn't buy it, "Alright, well, I did like her. A lot. It was a while ago, but no, not really anymore." Ron said. Yes, he found her attractive, but no, he didn't like her as much as he used to.  
  
For a minute they didn't talk, the Harry handed Ron his books, "You forgot these."  
  
"Thanks," Ron said and they walked back down to the Great Hall.  
  
"Soooooo...have you guys actually done some snogging yet?" Ron teased and Harry elbowed him hard in the ribs. "Yes! I knew it! Score for Potter!"  
  
"Shut up, Ron," Harry said embarrassed.  
  
"So, why do you have the detention?" Ron asked.  
  
"Well," Harry said, feeling stupid for blushing so much, "I couldn't sleep and neither could Hermione. So we went outside invisible and then----"  
  
"Ok, I don't want to hear that. It'll make me sick," Ron said and Harry laughed. It felt so much better for him to know his best friend was there to talk to.  
  
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
  
It was ten minutes before Harry and Hermione's detention. Ron was with them after dinner and they stopped outside the Dungeon doors to where Harry's detention was held.  
  
"Well.....I better be going. I've got to----uh, yeah, I better go," Ron stuttered and before Ron disappeared he gave Harry a thumbs up behind Hermione's back. Harry shook his head, grinning, while he motioned to Ron to get lost.  
  
"I guess you told Ron, huh?" Hermione asked, cracking her knuckles nervously.  
  
"Yeah, parts. He gets the idea," Harry said shrugging.  
  
"Oh. Well I better be going. Have fun," Hermione said amusingly.  
  
"Back at ya," He said with a tender smile and he left to Snape's classroom.  
  
Hermione's chest throbbed and she would have never thought that she would be walking to Trelawney's with a smile on her face.  
  
"""""""""""""  
  
Ohhh! I hope you like it....I'll try to get the next chapter up fast. Thanks and don't forget to review! THX- MLynnBloom :P 


	12. Detentions and Dances

;( I barely get to update. I've written a LOT down, like the next 4 chapters during class..oops, Well, alI I got to do is type, and I'm a horrible typer. Ok, the H/her connection is not gonna be so hott lately, but never fear!! Ok, answering Q's to reviewers. 1) Good suggestion on the Snitch-whistling thing, it totally went past my head.zoom! And oh yeah about detention, yes it is harsh, and you know Snape, actually I just needed time to go by. 2) Oh yeah the whole, don't take the last chapter seriously thing, I just didn't want you guys to think Ron was really offended, more like disgusted, lol. Ok I'm shutting up..  
  
~*~*~*  
  
When Harry entered the classroom, Snape, who was at his desk, pointed to a table in the far back of the room. The smell of vile-smelling potions lingered in the air.  
  
Harry didn't know how long his detention was, so he took out his homework from his previous classes to get it finished.  
  
"Put that away," Snape's voice droned when he saw Harry working on his Herbology homework, "While you are in my classroom, you will work on what I assign you."  
  
"But I already have work for you," Harry protested.  
  
"Now you'll have more," Snape said and he pointed to a stack of old potion books in the corner, "I want a essay on Chapter 4 before you leave his room, so get to work."  
  
Harry threw his quill down and grabbed one of the heavy books. He found Chapter 4, which the title read, 'Potions and How They Affected the Wizarding World in Ancient Greece'.  
  
That's probably how old these stupid books are, Harry thought irritably and tried to read the tedious paragraphs.  
  
*~*  
  
Hermione climbed her way all the way to the Astronomy Tower. She hadn't been in Trelawney's class in years and wanted it to stay like that. She entered the room and it was barely lit by the candles bordering the room, dripping wax on the floor. She sat down at one of the small, round tables and each one had a burning incense stick in the middle.  
  
Trelawney was studying an astronomy chart when Hermione entered. Her eyes followed her and when Hermione took notice, Trelawney reached down under her desk.  
  
Hermione ignored Trelawney and started on her other homework. She had just headed her paper when a book flopped on her desk.  
  
Hermione looked up at Trelawney, wrapped in her scarves and sequins, "What's this for?"  
  
"Your assignment," Trelawney said plainly, her voice wasn't as mystical and soft as Hermione remembered.  
  
"Assignment! I'm not even in this class!" Hermione argued harshly.  
  
"You are now. By the end of your two-month detention, you will have read this whole book. Start at the first chapter and write a paragraph on every important subject that comes up, like mind reading or star gazing," Trelawney declared and she continued back to her desk and her star chart.  
  
Hermione gritted her teeth, keeping quiet and started to read: 'The world of Divination is a fascinating one, where you use your Mind, Body, and Spirit.'  
  
Oh brother, what a joke, Hermione thought and read on against her will.  
  
*~*  
  
Harry finished his essay and hurried out of the Potions class right when his detention ended at 8:00 PM. Only two more months to go, Harry though. He climbed up the moving staircases and saw Hermione outside the Portrait.  
  
"Hey, did you forget the Password or you just wanted to wait for me?" Harry asked.  
  
"It depends. Are you glad to see me?" She said smiling as they entered the Common Room.  
  
"Of course," He said and he put his arm around her and gave her a slight squeeze, "Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight."  
  
~*~  
  
January arrived and the rest of the students came back from their winter vacations. Hermione and Harry's detentions still went on, every one seeming like hours. Classes went on as usual and winter still lingered. When the calendars flipped to February, the chill in the air settled. Harry was late to dinner one evening on the first day of the new month. Everyone seemed to be talking about the same thing.  
  
Harry sat down and looked at the girls in front of him giggling and talking way to fast for him to calculate what they were talking about, "What's going on?" Harry turned to Ron.  
  
"Hmmm, dunno. All I've caught from their conversation, if that's what you call it, is 'boys', 'shoes', and 'oh my god' about a million times." Ron shrugged.  
  
"Where were you guys today? Under a rock?" Laughed Dean Thomas, who was on the other side of Ron, "This month on Valentine's Day, Hogwarts is having a dance."  
  
"Oh..." Ron said disappointed, "Great, another opportunity to embarrass ourselves."  
  
Harry listened in to the group of girls who were still talking rapidly, now understanding it was about the dance.  
  
"Oooh! I can't wait! What should I do with my hair?"  
  
"I already have a date, he's in Ravenclaw and----"  
  
"I've been waiting for another dance since that on in our Fourth Year!"  
  
Harry cut off from eavesdropping after Seamus, next to Harry, started talking, "I've heard we can sign p to help with the dance. You know, decorations and stuff. I might sign up for director of music. I've got LOADS of CD's stuffed in my trunk somewhere..."  
  
*~*  
  
Harry and Ron walked to the Gryffindor Tower after dinner. Tonight, Harry was free from detention; he only had it Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He listened to Ron while they walked, looking around for Hermione occasionally. Nada.  
  
Ron let out a heavy, exaggerated sigh, "Well, I suppose I should start asking for a dance partner before I'm the odd man out." Harry grunted agreeably and Ron continued, "You don't need to worry about that, mate. I mean---you and, hmm...Hermione---" Ron said strangely uncomfortably. He still wasn't used to his friends pairing up.  
  
"Yeah I guess," Harry said with a dull tone in his voice when really, his insides lurched at the thought of dancing with her. He couldn't dance with his big, clumsy feet in the first place.  
  
They walked into the portrait hole and Ron sighed again, "Well, I better go to bed before I hear the word 'dance' again," Ron said and he pretended to waltz with an invisible person until he tripped over his feet and fell. Harry laughed and Ron got red and walked up the stairs with Harry behind him.  
  
Hermione was pulled along by Ginny back to the Common Room while she talked to her 5th and 6th year friends. In that group was Lavender and Parvati. Parvati's twin sister, Padma, was there too but had to go to her Ravenclaw Tower. Padma caught up with Cho's group of friends and Hermione's throat went dry. What is Cho asked Harry to go? Harry and Ron didn't tell her much about what happened between her and Harry and she tried not to think about it.  
  
The girls (except Hermione) talked nonstop, all the way up the stairs, while they got ready for the night, and even when they got to bed. They say up in their PJ's talking about the dance. Hermione knew that a few months ago she would have blown off the whole thing as a childish dance party, but now she had a different look on it. She felt nervously sick just thinking about what would happen at the dance with Harry. She wanted their relationship to be sort of a secret, and she wasn't sure why.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized Ginny talking to her, "Hello?? Hermione?" Ginny said and all the girls looked over to see if she had fallen asleep sitting up.  
  
"Wh---huh?" Hermione snapped back to the real world.  
  
"You've been really quiet, you ok?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Oooooh! Maybe she already has a date!" Lavender giggled and the rest of the girls listened intensely.  
  
Hermione kept a straight face, "I honestly don't know why everyone is so worked up about this silly dance that's in two weeks! Oh, and no, I don't have a date for your information," Hermione said. She wasn't lying really, she suspected her and Harry would go together but they hadn't said anything about it today.  
  
"Aww, come on Hermione! Who would you like to go with?" Lavender said stubbornly.  
  
"Well, uh....hey! What about you, Lavender? Who would you like to go with?" Hermione asked and all over again the girl started talking about the eligible guys at Hogwarts. Hermione lay down, now that the attention was off her and fell asleep to the girls chatter.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Ok all done!!! So was it good? Kinda boring? So exciting your pants fell off? Ok probably not that...Can't wait for your reviews, it helps a lot! :P 


	13. Hogsmede

Hehehe, I'm so giddy for getting so many reviews. Plus, I know how the rest of my story is going to go, I figured it out. I wrote it out and I'm all the way up to the day before the dance......but lately my writing hasn't been so great so I'm sorry!  
  
Well here's the next chapter, I think it's pretty cute. Harry and Herm. have reached a point in their relationship' where it's kinda playful and comfortable stuff now---only for now though.... Ok just read for yourselves :P....  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The next few days, all the girls (most of them) suddenly got quiet around the guys, occasionally flirting and flaunting all they got. The guys didn't seem to mind (boys....) and no one had really asked anyone out yet. The teachers kept everyone busy with loads of homework and of course, Harry's detentions with Snape were grueling. He was losing an hour's worth of time he could be using to do actual homework. The same thing was occurring with Hermione, but she always seemed to keep in order.  
  
Everyone seemed to need a good break and fortunately for them, Dumbledore knew that they were due to a visit to Hogsmede. Homework was abandoned for a day while everyone poured out to Hogsmede for a good time.  
  
Hermione was, yet again, pulled by Ginny to come hang out with the girls. She had told Hermione it wasn't good for her "health" to be hanging out with so many guys all the time. Hermione went along, although at first she resisted, knowing she'd rather go with Ron and Harry. Their first stop was to Honeydukes, where they all splurged, even Hermione, on treats and irresistible sweets. Then they were off to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeer.  
  
Ron and Harry, and with a couple of other boys, went in almost the same route, but they stopped in Zonko's Joke Shop before the Three Broomsticks.  
  
They looked around for a little bit when Ron grabbed Harry's arm and jerked him to the side of the store. "Look!!!" Ron yelped and Harry looked down. There, in a small box, were Ton-Tongue Toffees and another box with even more little boxes labeled 'Skiving Snackboxes'. The label read Fred and George's names on it and on the side was a pile of their business cards. Here was their first attempt to their moneymaking and Harry couldn't help but laugh.  
  
The guys walked into the Three Broomsticks, only a few tables away from the table of girls. They were sipping their butterbeer everytime they stopped talking, which was rare.  
  
Hermione and Harry exchanged glances and Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville ordered their drinks. They talked about the upcoming Quidditch game and classes when Seamus was the first one to mention the dance.  
  
"Soooo...any of you guys have a date?" He guys shrugged and drank their butterbeer, "Well I do, it's a Ravenclaw, Jada Toolstop. She's easy on the eyes," Seamus bragged, puffing out his chest and Ron threw a napkin right in his face.  
  
Seamus laughed and threw it right back, "So Ron, are you jealous or do you have a date already?"  
  
Ron mumbled a little and his eyes went pink, "Well, uhhh, I've been thinking about---ehh, asking Lavender." Ron muttered and the guys teased him.  
  
Neville took a drink of butterbeer and sincerely asked Harry, "What about you, Harry?"  
  
"Uhh----I'm, uh, I don't know," Harry lied when really his eyes slipped past them to the girls' table.  
  
"Aww, come on, Harry. You don't lie very well," Dean said and they waited.  
  
Harry looked down and fiddled with the tablecloth, "Well, I'm actually thinking of asking---uhh, honestly, I'm going to ask Hermione."  
  
"Harry! There are plenty of girls still available!! She's your LAST resort so why are----," Seamus said bluntly but Ron nudged him hard, "Oww! I just..oh! Oooohh...," Seamus understood finally and he looked over at Hermione, who he couldn't see why Harry would ask her out. She was his smart, rule-following, best friend, wasn't she?  
  
The guys buzzed about what Harry said, very interested on what else Harry didn't tell them. Then Ron interrupted.  
  
"So are you going to ask her?"  
  
"What? Now?" Harry said, taken aback.  
  
"Yeah, why not, Harry? There is barely anyone in here that we know," Dean pointed out.  
  
"Plus, Malfoy and his gang are nowhere in sight, so what do you got to lose?" Ron said and he seemed a little better about the whole 'Harry and Hermione' thing.  
  
My sanity, Harry thought. He could never ask her now, she was sitting next to the most gossipy girls in the whole school.  
  
"Would you of done it for Cho?" Ron asked in a whisper, so only Harry could hear. Harry bit his tongue thinking about Cho. It embarrassed him just thinking about last year. It would have never worked out, their relationship went from bad to worse.  
  
So Harry got up, half not realizing what made him do it. It was like a different side of him took over. He walked straight to the girls' table and all the boys were watching his every move. The girls noticed him coming over right away. Hermione looked around her, wondering if there was anyone else he might talk to.  
  
He stopped in front of the table and the girls were whispering, all except for Hermione. "Excuse me, ladies," He said and they stopped and smiled their best for Harry. Hermione kept her eyes low. What is he doing?? She thought, almost panicky.  
  
He knew in the back of his head that a week from now, or maybe just hours, that he would regret this. But he went right ahead and did it anyways, since he was there.  
  
He knelt down on one knee and grabbed Hermione's hand. She was blushing madly now, hoping she wouldn't die right on the spot. Harry smiled playfully and cleared his throat.  
  
"Hermione Granger, would you give me the honor of having you as my dance partner?" He said, not at all very seriously while he grinned the whole time.  
  
Hermione's heart almost stopped. She was embarrassed and flattered all at the same time. She couldn't believe he was doing this but she looked at him finally and managed out a 'Yes'.  
  
Harry's heart leaped and he stood up. The guys at the other table stood up too and applauded. The other tabled snickered and joined in too. Hermione took her hand away to cover her burning face, while the girls shrieked excitedly, all wishing their future date would do the same.  
  
Harry walked back slowly, regaining his right state of mind. He was even blushing and he sat down next to Ron.  
  
"Brilliant, Harry! Surely something the Weasley twins would have pulled off!" Seamus complimented.  
  
Harry drank the rest of his butterbeer, trying to hide his face, "Man, what have I done?"  
  
"You got yourself a date, mate," Ron said and he slapped a hand on Harry's shoulder.  
  
^v^v^v^v^v  
  
The guys left the Three Broomsticks after their mugs were empty. They looked around some more, but when the sun started to sink towards the horizon, they slowly lingered and headed back to Hogwarts.  
  
The girls did just about the same thing but they stayed in the Three Broomsticks a little while longer to talk to Hermione. They were all still giggling and asking Hermione all sorts of things. Ginny was the most surprised out of all of them.  
  
"Oh my gosh, Hermione, that was so sweet! I have no idea that you and Harry...oh!" Lavender squealed.  
  
Hermione nodded and finally took her hands off her face. She hoped her face didn't look too pathetic and after a while, they left.  
  
While the girls were looking in one of the shops, Ginny pulled Hermione to the side.  
  
"Hermione!! Wh-what's going on? When did this happen? Where---" Ginny hissed but Hermione cut her off.  
  
"Look, Ginny. I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Hermione whispered back and Ginny folded her arms.  
  
"Well, yes you did leave out some MINOR details!" Ginny said but then she grabbed her arm, "It was pretty cute, though. More something my brothers would have done. So, when did this whole thing start??"  
  
Hermione was in a slight daze and didn't hear Ginny's question. She nodded while she watched Harry and the boys walking in front of her about 30 feet. She felt so lucky to be his dance partner.  
  
^v^v^v^v^  
  
The following weeks seemed like they were going to be great for Harry. He had a Quidditch game in the next few days against Slytherin (yes, he is Seeker again) and of course the up coming dance with Hermione. Then there was one night of detention with Snape...  
  
"You know where the books are. Get to work," Snape scorned sternly and Harry got to work on the dull assignment. He would do his work, but when Snape was not looking, he would take his paper under his work and write a few words in his note to Hermione. So far it read:  
  
Dear Hermione,  
  
Only a few more weeks of detention, about three I think. Snape's detention work is almost as boring and stupid as he is. I really miss you, I never get to see you as much with classes, Quidditch practices, detentions...If you're not busy, I need to talk to you about us going to the dance. Meet me near the Library after---  
  
-  
  
Harry stopped short and noticed a looming figure over his desk. Snape snatched the paper and read it twice.  
  
"So, 'almost as boring and stupid' as me?? Well then, lets make it AS boring and stupid as me by adding double assignments," Snape spat and he took the note, "I hope you don't mind the whole student body viewing this, hmmm?" He sneered and he slammed the note in his desk drawer, "I'll be expecting that double assignment done by tomorrow's Potions. Your detention is over," Harry swiped his stuff, his face burning. His knuckles were bone- white from clutching his books so hard.  
  
^v^v^v^v^v^  
  
Classes went on the next day, as usual, and Harry tried to forget about the note. During Potions, he ignored Snape the whole time while he mixed his Sleeping potion.  
  
Snape instructed everyone to pack up before they left and he stood up at his desk, his greasy hair in his eyes, "Oh yes, one announcement I need to give. Don't forget to read my bulletin board. Apparently, Mr. Potter needs to meet Miss Granger at the Library sometime soon, something about them 'going together'. Go read for yourself. You have my permission to ask him for full details about it," He sneered hatefully.  
  
At those words, Harry bolted out of the classroom, hearing the Slytherins laughing at his note. Ron caught up with him, "Hey Harry, what's up with that note?"  
  
"Nothing. Just forget about it," Harry mumbled.  
  
"Hey! Potter! You never mentioned when you'd meet the saucy little lady!" Malfoy yelled and Goyle and Crabbe chuckled stupidly.  
  
"Forget them, Harry. They're not worth the time," Ron said. Harry kept himself from doing anything and saw Hermione striding hastily down the hall, her cheeks red.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Wow that was long than I thought, well it'll keep ya busy, because I am this week, till Friday or so. Please review, I guess this chappie is ok...but I'm just wondering. Are my chapters too short or are they ok? Cuz I think I make them kind of short at times...This is my longest chapter, word-wise. K thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate it. 


	14. Tied Up With the Game

Hehehe I'm giddy with happiness! I'm loved with your reviews! Good thing to see more reviews after a hard day, lol, anyways...I think one reviewer asked about Harry's scar and if that comes up again or has to do with anything again? Umm, it might be mentioned once again, actually it will, but it's nothing really important.  
  
Here's the next chapter, gotta hate that Snape for that last chapter....  
  
*Watch out for this chapter, there's mild swearing, sorry if it offends anyone*  
  
^v^v^v^v^v^v^  
  
For the following days, Harry took his mind off of Snape and the incident in Potions the closer the Quidditch game got. He knew he has to beat Slytherin, right in front of Snape and Malfoy. It was four days before the dance and it was a gloomy day for Quidditch.  
  
Harry sat alone at the Gryffindor table early that breakfast, stirring his oatmeal around, but it never seemed to end up in his mouth. He wasn't hungry and for some reason, he never felt so nervous before about a game since his very first one.  
  
The owls came and delivered mail to the students. They came earlier today, usually they flew their way in there around lunch. Hedwig slowly descended down to Harry, her milky-white wings flapping gracefully. She hooted slightly and Harry fed her a cracker he barely touched. She nipped his thankfully and flew out the window into the gray sky. The clouds smeared the sky with deep, dark streaks and their shadows seemed to blanket the sun. Harry left the Great Hall to the Gryffindor Tower, the Quidditch game just hours away.  
  
By 1:00 PM, he was in the Gryffindor Quidditch Room, with the other players. They waited, and waited, and waited for the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff game to end before them. Finally, Professor McGonagall walked into the room and Angelica rushed over to her.  
  
"When are we going on? Professeur, if we---" Angelica expressed hotly.  
  
"Calm down, Angelica. The game is just going over schedule. Until it has finished, you'll have to wait," She faced the rest of the players, "I'm sorry for the delay."  
  
She marched out of the room and Angelica sat down again, frustrated. After a while, she drilled them on their technique of playing. She was getting more and more like Wood was when he was under pressure.  
  
At last, half an hour later, Harry heard the roars from the crowd of Hufflepuffs close victory. The score ended up being 210 to 375.  
  
It was barely two when Harry and his teammates were waiting to be called out into the field. Earlier, Harry had to shake Ron awake so he could be ready for the start of the game. Ron had stayed Keeper from the previous year and had gotten loads better, in everyone's opinion, over the summer. Ginny had gone from the Seeker to a Chaser when Harry got his right back to play.  
  
On Madam Hooch's command, the Gryffindor team walked out onto the field, in their bold red and gold colours. The Slytherin team followed right after, Malfoy jeering at the Gryffindor team. Madam Hooch was in the middle of the grassy field, calling them over and trying to be heard over the screaming crowd.  
  
Harry looked up at everyone in the Gryffindor crowd, straining to see if he could spot Hermione at all. He found her right away; she was waving right at him ecstatically. He waved slightly back and all the anticipation and butterflies left his stomach.  
  
Thunder rolled like the rhythm of drums and the tree branches slightly swayed in the wind. The players surrounded Madam Hooch and she unlocked the box containing the balls.  
  
"You all know the rules. Play it safe, or else," She warned and she opened the box. Just then, drops of rain splashed on the leather-hide case and sprinkled the ground.  
  
The announcer over the intercom reminded everyone of the rules while the Snitch and Bludgers were released. With Lee Jordan graduated from Hogwarts, his replacement was a 3rd year from Ravenclaw.  
  
The game began at the sound of the whistle and the sight of the Quaffle in the air. Suddenly, everyone was flying at top speed to score points.  
  
Harry swerved around the other players while he looked for the Snitch. It got harder and harder to look for after the first ten minutes. Rain was blurring his glasses and he had to wipe them off every few minutes. If I could only remember that spell, Harry thought. He remembered in his 3d year, a storm similar to this was occurring, and Hermione helped his glasses repel water with a flick of her wand. Hermione...Harry daydreamed and recollected himself when a Bludger whizzed past his ear. He realized he could see better if he took his glasses off and quickly stashed them away. His eyesight, though, was horrible and the rain started to pour an icy shower on everyone. He tried to focus his eyes to find a glint of gold or (hopefully not) Malfoy zooming after it.  
  
The score was announced after some time. 50 to 70, Slytherin in the lead. A Quaffle was thrown into the hoops. 60 to 70. Another. 70 to 70.  
  
"The terms are neck to neck out there in the heart of the storm, the score at a tie!" The Ravenclaw squeaked. The storm grew progressively worse every minute and soon enough, the rain was coming down in thick sheets.  
  
"I can't see a thing!" Hermione yelled to Neville next to her and shivered, "At this rate, we might have to postpone the game," She tried to make out Harry but they were moving so fast and the rain was so hard that she could only tell the red suits from the green. Everyone around her was drenched from the rain and some attempted to use their wands for a spell to cover them.  
  
Sltherin scored. 70 to 80. Slytherin cheered like mad. Gryffindor scored. 80 to 80.  
  
"Tie! A bloody tie! One catch from the Seekers could determine the game! And if they don't hurry up fast, I just got word that we might have to--- wait! Yes!" The Ravenclaw shouted, "Draco Malfoy in on the Snitch's tale!"  
  
Harry frantically scanned the field and saw Malfoy skimming the ground at top speed, right after the Snitch. Harry nose-dived and in no time, was side to side to Malfoy.  
  
The rain pounded their heads, their brooms inches from the muddy ground. Harry reached out desperately, the Snitch was so close, if he could only--- then Malfoy nudged him out of the way. Harry got back on course and hit him back, he had to catch it, he had to win this game! He reached out once more...the wings of the Snitch brushed his fingertips...  
  
Then Malfoy thrust out his leg and kicked him as hard as he could. Harry lost control of the broom and flipped when his back hit the ground. He rolled over on the mud, face up, and the rain stung his face as he lay there. His arm throbbed and so did his head. Please, please, don't let him catch it, anything but that, he thought. The sound of the Gryffindor's angry roar filled the stadium, along with the Slytherin's overjoyed screams. Failure flooded Harry's insides.  
  
"Slytherin wins! The score 80 to---, wait. Uhhh, no, according to Madam Hooch."  
  
"FOUL! Foul! Acts of violence is strictly against the rules! So for your foul, Malfoy, the score with remain a tie. The points for the Snitch do not count. The game is over!" Madam Hooch shouted fiercely. The crowd was split with cheers and disagreement. Harry got up slowly, feeling slightly better that it was a tie, but if he could of only of caught it....he felt horrible. Harry spit blood out of his mouth and stood up with his broom in his hand. Malfoy jumped off his broom and stormed over right in Harry's direction.  
  
Malfoy knew he cheated, but he was fumed for equaling with Gryffindor. He was furious at Harry and knew he had to break him down to make himself feel any better.  
  
"Did that kick feel good, Potter?" Malfoy sneered, but Harry ignored him and put his rain-smudged glasses back on.  
  
"I bet that Hermione will make you feel all better," He taunted, shaking his wet hair out of his eyes, "Rumor is that you've got a thing for the filthy Mudblood. Tell me, Potter, how does it feel to finally love someone, since your mother and father are---," Malfoy shouted but never finished. He was tackled to the ground by Harry's fury, and both of them were blindly punching whatever made contact with their fists.  
  
Ron and the players from the Slytherin team pulled them apart. Malfoy wiped the blood running down from his nose and pushed the Slytherins away from him when he was on his feet, "Damn it, get off me! Go to hell, Potter!" Malfoy swore angrily and marched off, feeling worse than before.  
  
Ron grabbed Harry's shoulder abruptly, "What are you thinking?! Do you want to---" Ron yelled angrily but his voice was fading father away as Harry tore away from him and left to go anywhere but there.  
  
~^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^~  
  
Well, that was kind of an angry chapter, but I actually thought it wasn't that bad...thanks for reading, and I love them reviews!!!!!! Sorry so short though!! 


	15. Sweet Surrender

Hey! Thanks again for the reviews, sorry with the Angelica/*Angelina mixup.........I know a girl named Angelica, so yeah. (Angelina is a Quidditch player FYI, and now the new coach). Hopefully all that kicking off brooms/brawls weren't that bad for y'all. I g2 warn you, there's going to be OOTP spoilers in further chapters, not for a while, but I hope you've all read it, cuz I'd hate to lose readers for it!!! ;( But there's a slight mention of one in here  
  
* I have a very busy week ahead, so next chapter might be up this weekend or early next week.........sorry! Yeah here's some H/Hr interaction, you'll probably guess what's going to happen after a while, not that hard to guess, hehe.  
  
~^v^v^v^v^v^v^~  
  
"Come on, Harry.........!" Hermione whispered as she saw his reaching for the Snitch. Catch it, come on, you can do it, she thought. Suddenly, Malfoy leaned in closer to Harry and struck his leg right in his side, and he fell, violently tumbling on the soft ground. Hermione gasped and stood up halfway. She grasped her hands tightly, mentally cursing at Malfoy. When his foul was announced, she cheered with the Gryffindors and left to get to Harry, never seeing the fight between the two.  
  
When she reached the field, Harry was no longer on the field and the rest of the Gryffindor players were leaving. He dashed over to Ron, drenched from the pouring rain, "Where's Harry?" Hermione cried.  
  
Ron shrugged irritably and kept on walking, unconcerned. Hermione sighed angrily, looking for anyone that looked like Harry. She had a feeling that he hadn't gone back inside of Hogwarts, so she left the stadium to go look around the castle.  
  
^v^v^v^v^  
  
Harry paced around the school grounds, trying to get rid of his rage. It didn't seem to work so he finally slumped down against on of Hogwarts's strong, supportive walls. He buried his face in his knees, unaware that he was sitting in slick, wet mud. He couldn't believe he missed the Snitch. Tie or not, he felt like he lost the game. Even though he was soaking wet, he could feel his face burning at what Malfoy said. The storm calmed down, only slightly, but the rain was still coming down strong.  
  
The familiar taste of blood remained in his mouth and he glanced up through his clouded glasses. He thought that he only saw her because he was desperate to see her, but the closer the shape got, the more he doubted it was his imagination. There was Hermione running towards him in her wet robes. Her hair hung heavy in her face and she skidded and fell on her knees in front of Harry.  
  
"Harry! I've been looking all over for you!" She gasped out of breath, smiling with relief to finally found him, "Let's go back inside, it's dreadful out here," She said, staring into his depressed eyes, "I know Gryffindor didn't win, but it was a tie, and that's better than losing, right?" She reassured.  
  
"It's not that, it's.........Malfoy," Harry hissed.  
  
"But it was a foul, Harry, he just looks like an idiot. Now, please, let's go---"She pleaded and shuddered, the wind whipped again fiercely.  
  
"No, it's what he said. He started in on things that are not even his business. He said---he said things about you," He gripped his broom and murmured quietly, "And my mum and dad." Rage swept over his body again and his jaw clenched.  
  
She stared at his deep, emerald eyes and they seemed to flicker with fury. But there was a dullness about them, a longing of something he couldn't have that he kept hidden away. She noticed the blood on his lip and shook her head, "Harry, this is exactly what he wants, to make you feel like dirt. What he says doesn't matter, it's ok---,"  
  
"But Hermione, it's not! I can't have that ignorant jerk mouthing off about people I love! And I do love you, and he can't be saying things like--- like.........! You're always here for me, and I can't get you out of my mind. Ever since---"Harry stopped, becoming aware that he was confessing his deepest feelings for her. He looked way from her subtle eyes, mortified. He always held back, keeping in everything he felt. Though at times, he broke down and he couldn't control it. He tried to forget the time in Dumbledore's office last year, but the memory slid back in his mind like a bad dream.  
  
She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she choked on her own words. Harry didn't face her again, almost sure he did another thing wrong that day. The silence was torture and Harry's insides sunk painfully, now knowing how it felt to love someone who didn't feel the same way.  
  
Hermione's heart raced and her hands were trembling. The stone wall barely shielded them from the rain and lightning streaked the sky in jagged ropes. She wasn't sure if she believed what he said, but all the doubt of loving him left her. She wiped the blood from his bruised lip and he stared back at her once again. She brushed his black hair away from his scar absentmindedly touched his scar with her two fingers, like the night she noticed something was there between them.  
  
He watched her hands and when he felt her cold fingers on his scar, it felt strangely familiar, like a feeling he had in a dream. Her feelings for him were strong, but she had been blind to his feelings for her and never thought he actually loved her. He had saved her numerous times and he was always on her mind, wishing he was there when she entered a room.  
  
She bent her face to her ear and whispered, her voice strangely afraid and almost inaudible, "I love you, Harry,". And with her hands behind his head, she slowly moved towards him, and he did as well.  
  
His broom left his fingers and he wrapped his arms around her neck. Quidditch didn't seem important anymore and he had forgotten all about Malfoy. The rain, yet again, started to pour heavily and he didn't care if it drowned him right now.  
  
Their embrace was intense and passionate, almost like their burning emotions for each other had exploded. He pulled her into his chest and held his breath at every move she made. There was nothing to hide now and all she gave him was her sweet surrender.  
  
Thunder rolled and lightning flashed across the sky for the last time that night.  
  
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^  
  
"Ugghh, what horrible weather. It's been raining ever since the game," Ginny complained to the girls in the Girls Dormitory. It was true, it was raining but just barely. They were still talking about the dance and Ginny had honestly gotten sick of hearing it, so at every opportunity she tried to change the subject (even if it was as boring as talking about the weather). The clock on the far side of the wall read 7:11 PM. Dinner had just ended at 6:30 and Hermione still wasn't back yet. Ginny wasn't even sure if she saw her in the Great Hall for dinner.  
  
She heard hollow footsteps on the staircase and when the door opened, Hermione stepped in. The girls turned to see her; she was an absolute mess. Not one part of her was not soaked with water. Her knees and her skirt were smeared with mud on the rim and her messy hair was dripping. Her cheeks were flushed and she realized what a scene she was making. She grabbed her nightgown off her bed and hurried past the girls and into the washroom.  
  
Right when she closed the door, she heard the girls murmuring through the wall, She could only imagine what they were saying about her and what they thought she might of done. The mirror that reflected herself stood in front of her and she wasn't sure if she recognized herself. She never really worried herself in front of mirrors and the girl in front of her looked a lot older than she remembered. She had gotten taller and shapely, and that made her uncomfortable. She still wanted her innocent, younger body, the one she felt content in.  
  
She shivered in her wet, heavy clothes and she turned the hot water on in the tub. She stripped down and relaxed by taking an overly long shower. Afterwards, she changed into her nightdress and pulled her hair back. Her hair had gotten longer too, she noticed. It was a couple inches past her shoulders and her chest swelled up, thinking of Harry and his hands in her hair.  
  
She tried to look casual and opened the door, walked past the observing group of girls, and straight to the stairs.  
  
"Ooohh, Hermione?" Ginny said teasingly and Hermione stopped. Then the girls started to laugh madly.  
  
She turned around abruptly, "What? What's so funny?" And she walked back to the girls. Ginny smiled. It was part of her plan to lure Hermione back to find out a little about what happened.  
  
"Soooo.........how have you been doing, Hermione? You looked dreadful earlier, you ok??" Lavender giggled.  
  
"I'm perfectly fine. Now, if you don't mind, I was just about to---" Hermione started.  
  
"---Do something else against the rules?" Parvati asked and Hermione got annoyed.  
  
"What are you saying?" She huffed, turning slightly embarrassed. What if someone saw them?  
  
"We're saying that we'd expect better from a girl who was a Prefect only a year ago," Ginny said and Hermione turned to the stairs again.  
  
"Aww, come on, Hermie, we were only joking. Now get your butt back here and stop pretending to be so uptight," Lavender kidded and Hermione bit the inside of her cheek and sat down with them in the middle of the floor.  
  
They didn't talk for a minute, then Hermione retorted, "I didn't DO anything against the rules," She crossed her arms.  
  
"Then where were you during dinner? In the Library doing homework because I highly doubt THAT," Parvati said and Hermione, who (once in her life) didn't have anything to reply to that, stormed out of the room, embarrassed. Ginny punched Parvati in the arm.  
  
^v^v^v^v^v^v^  
  
Hermione came down into the Common Room and flopped on one of the long, red couches, not even realizing Ron was sitting in a big chair next to it.  
  
"Something wrong?" Ron said softly and Hermione jumped.  
  
""Oh, uh hi, Ron. Yeah, I'm ok," And she crossed her legs, "Where's Harry?"  
  
"Upstairs, he went to bed early. Hey, do you know where he was at dinner?" Ron asked but then he saw the uncomfortable look on Hermione's face and he coughed, "Oh—umm, nevermind then," She turned her eyes to the fireplace and heard run snicker. She threw a pillow right in his face. She had skipped dinner, and so had Harry. They had stayed outside for quite some time, talking and walking around, but most of the time they would stop and---she blushed thinking about kissing Harry when Ron was sitting right there.  
  
"Ok, then what are you doing out here?"  
  
Ron threw the pillow back and mildly kicked the table in front of him, "Uhh, well.........guys can't go up the girls' staircase, right?"  
  
Hermione smiled curiously and nodded, "Yes you can, you just need to know the right spell," She lied and Ron perked up, "Ok, well, it's because I need to talk to someone."  
  
Hermione got up and stood in front of the stairs and borrowed Ron's wand. He stood next to her and she lifted his wand up midway, "Who are you going to talk to?"  
  
"Uhhh----errr," Ron said quietly and uttered quickly the name "Lavender". Hermione felt bad for lying but she needed a good laugh after being up in the girls' room. She flickered her wand and made up a spell: 'Steppius Haltnium'.  
  
Ron hesitated and then rushed up the stairs. In a few seconds, he was on his stomach, sliding right back down. Hermione was laughing so hard she was on her knees. He collected himself up and then tackled her on her back. He looked into her gentle face and chestnut eyes and stood up very quickly. He couldn't do this anymore, not that she was Harry's now, and realized that maybe he was still a little attracted to her.  
  
Hermione got up still laughing (and in a much better mood), oblivious to what Ron did and gave him his wand back. "I'm---I'm s-so sorry!" She sputtered. She calmed down and smiled innocently at him, "I'll tell her though, that you wanted to talk to her, ok?" He nodded, turning red.  
  
"If I can remember correctly, can't girls climb up the boys' dorm stairs?" She asked curiously, and giggling, she ran up the stairs.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Man, I hate to end it here, it's not a very good place to stop. But the next part to continue it would just make this longer and this chapter is long already! LOL, ok I love, love, love your reviews, they're so grood. I mean good.........and great. Great and good. Sorry, another homestarrunner.com thing. Hermione stop 


	16. Mind Gazing

Ok, I'm back, but not for long. Major stuff I got to do by Wednesday and so, I'm doing this really quickly so I'm not keeping you guys wait for another week! Thanks for all the reviews they really do help! If I'm spelling or doing something wrong, please tell me because I don't have a lot of time to read over it and see what I messed up on. Yeah, I kind of realized after I wrote it that Ginny's not supposed to be in the same room. From now on, I'll try to remember that. ;)  
  
Hopefully this chapter won't be confuesing. The first parts are sort of little things that happen and the end is what makes this chapter so long, and hopefully not too mind-racking! It's going to be long so hang in there!  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Hermione raced up the stairs, into the dark boys' dormitory. She jumped on an empty bed by a window and figured it was Ron's. She was out of breath and laughed warmly and quieted down quickly when she remembered people were trying to sleep. Ron slowly walked over, just watching silently. This was so unlike her. Something must have happened tonight, between those two, whispered a thought in Ron's head. No way, Harry would have told me, Ron thought back and he hated himself for feeling a stab of slight jealously in his stomach.  
  
Harry stirred and mumbled sleepy nonsense. Ron sighed, "Well, I dunno why I'm letting you stay in here, but you probably want to talk to---uhh, yeah," Ron muttered and he left the room embarrassed.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and crept off the bed and kneeled on the side of Harry's bed. She gently pulled his glasses off, guessing that he forgot to take them off. He grunted and slowly opened his eyes, startled to see Hermione right in front of him.  
  
"Hey...wh-what are you doing up here?" Harry asked sleepily, smiling delicately.  
  
"I'll tell you tomorrow, I just wanted to say goodnight," She said and was thankful it was so dark. The moonlight's rays dimly lit the room to a shade of deep blue, though Harry couldn't see her blushing.  
  
"Hmmm, goodnight 'Mione," He whispered sleepily, his eyes struggling to keep open, "Sweet dreams." He tenderly moved forward and kissed her on the lips.  
  
She kissed him back and got up, "Night," and she tiptoed out, her knees weak. He watched her leave through drowsy eyes and closed them finally when he heard her footsteps reach the bottom of the stairs. He never felt so happy to be kissed goodnight for the first time.  
  
^v^v^v^v^v^  
  
The sun rose above Hogwarts's glittering towers the next morning, shining brighter now that the storm has passed. Hermione got up early that day and silently got ready for her classes. Slowly, the girls got up from their beds and joined her and then left to breakfast. Before Lavender left the room, Hermione grabbed her shoulder.  
  
"Lavender! I need to talk to you," Hermione said with about four heavy books in her hands.  
  
"Hermione, I'm SO sorry about last night. We were being immature, but we were only curious about---" Lavender pleaded.  
  
"No, no, forget that," Hermione shook her head and a wave of relief passed over Lavender's face, "I just wanted to tell you...well, if Ron comes up to you today, listen, ok?"  
  
"Ron? Ron Weasley?" Lavender asked and she blushed, "Of course," And she skipped off to breakfast.  
  
^v^v^v^  
  
Harry walked off to Transfiguration later that afternoon. The long halls were cluttered with groups of students, most of them still talking about the dance. Mostly, the chattering groups were made of younger year girls, shrieking whenever a boy's name was mentioned. None of them went up to Harry, but they watched him pass by, either too embarrassed to ask or predicting that the Boy Who Lived would surely have a date. He turned the corner when he was stopped by one of the last person he wanted to see.  
  
"Oh, Harry, hi," She said and she flipped her long, black hair. It was Cho Chang and surprisingly she didn't have her group of friends hanging around.  
  
"Err...hi, Cho," Harry said, knowing he was pretty sure why she decided to finally talk to him this year.  
  
"Well, I don't have a date for the dance and I was wondering if I could go with you," She asked confidently. She was very pretty but he didn't see what he liked about her just a few years ago.  
  
"Uhh...I'm sorry to let you down, Cho, but I already have a date," He said, wondering whatever happened to that Michael kid that she went out with after they broke up.  
  
"Oh," She said and looked shocked. He felt a pang of anger when he saw the look on her face, like she was expecting he was waiting for her to ask him to the dance.  
  
She turned around and walked away slowly but she whipped around, tears on the rims of her eyes, "I'm just curious, even though it's none of my business. Who's your date?"  
  
"Hermione...Granger," Harry stammered.  
  
"Oh ok," She said shortly. She let out a short, aggravated sigh and strode away.  
  
Harry knew he would have done anything to have her ask him to the dance two or three years ago, but it was different now. He forgot all about it though, when he saw Ron running up to him, almost tripping over his own feet.  
  
"H-h-harry!" Ron coughed and he inhaled deeply, "I---asked, I asked Lavender to the dance after Charms, and she---she said yes!" He said enthusiastically.  
  
"Hey! That's great!" Harry said brightly and they walked into the classroom and sat down in their desks.  
  
"Yeah, I know. She's great," Ron smiled.  
  
"I meant the dance," Harry said.  
  
"Isn't that what I said?" Ron asked innocently and he laughed, remembering Christmas day, "So, how's your morning been?" He flipped his book open to the right page.  
  
"Ha! You wouldn't believe who came up to me today...," Harry said and told Ron the story.  
  
^v^v^v^v^v^  
  
Harry and Hermione split up as usual to go to their detentions. It was the night before the dance and thankfully they didn't have detention the next day. Hermione climbed up the stairs, passing portraits that waved to tried to start up a conversation with her. She arrived in Trelawney's classroom right on time and started to read the book of Divination. She only had a few more chapters until she was finished and the tedious paragraphs were so hard to read after a long time.  
  
Trelawney was gliding around the room, fixing her trinkets and contraptions on her walls. She looked over Hermione's shoulder at the page she was reading.  
  
"Ahh, yes, 'Mind Gazing'," Trelawney said out loud. For some, it takes years to master, others it takes seconds. Fickle spell. It took me three days." She boasted and lingered around, reading the page occasionally.  
  
"It says it requires and wand. If I remember clearly, the world of Divination needs only your 'Mind, Body, and Spirit'," Hermione reminded her smartly.  
  
Trelawney bit her lip and grabbed a chair in front of Hermione at the small table they sat. She took her own wand from out of the layers of her glittering shawls. Hermione was surprised she even kept a wand. She turned the schoolbook in her direction and read the page.  
  
"Since I sense you don't believe me, Miss Granger, shall I demonstrate? Mind Gazing, if done correctly, can let you see into the deepest memories in the depths of a person's mind. Both good and bad memories, in no particular order," She stopped and grabbed Hermione's small planner, "Is this yours?"  
  
Hermione nodded and Trelawney continued. Hermione mentally prayed that Trelawney wouldn't do what she thought she would, "You see, you need someone's personal belonging to see into their memories. You take your wand and gently place the tip of it in the center of the item. This is the hardest part, where your mind comes in. You just can't say silly words and wave your wand. You concentrate." Trelawney closed her eyes and placed her wand on Hermione's planner.  
  
"You're going to see my memories!? Don't I have---," Hermione interrupted.  
  
"Do you want to see how this works or not?" Trelawney frowned and Hermione crossed her arms and kept quiet, "As I was saying, you concentrate and think of a memory you shared with that person. Let's see if I remember the day you left my classroom." She glared and closed her eyes again. She sat there in deep thought for a minute until she re-opened her eyes. She pressed her fingers to her temple and winced, her head throbbing. Then she opened Hermione's planner. Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing.  
  
On the pages of her planner, she was watching her memories. As she did, she had the strangest feeling, the feeling when you think someone is behind you, watching your every move.  
  
"Every object is different that you cast the spell on. For this, every page you turn is a new memory," She turned the page and the previous page was covered with a new memory, "You need to figure out how to trigger a new memory for the object, and that can take some time."  
  
Hermione hated Trelawney for watching her personal memories and wanted to snatch her planner away. But she didn't and was curious, almost, about this spell and how it worked.  
  
Trelawney flipped through the pages, explaining some more about how the Mind Gazing worked. One page was of when she got her expectance letter to Hogwarts. It was amazing, they could hear everything, her voice, her excited parents...She almost forgot how happy she was that day. It was one of the best days of her life.  
  
They passed by more memories, some with her in her 5th year, her 2nd year, and they stopped at one in her third year. She was in the middle of tall hooded Dementors, with Harry and Sirius Black. Luckily, Trelawney couldn't make out who Black was; that would be a hard one to explain. She stomach sunk when she thought of Sirius, but all of a sudden, a shadow seemed to fall on her and she felt cold and weak. She felt her mind slipping and she started to close her eyes...  
  
Trelawney flipped the page and the feeling disappeared, "I'm-I'm fine," Hermione whispered when she saw concern on Trelawney's face. "What happened? It was almost like---"  
  
"Yes," Trelawney seemed to be reading her mind, "The most powerful memories of a person can be so strong, you can feel the feelings that they felt. I felt them, and since you're so close to your own memories here, you remembered and felt it too. If you were out of the room, you wouldn't of felt a thing." Trelawney explained. She shook the awful feeling away from her and stared at Hermione. She was dumbfounded that this young lady had experienced something like that.  
  
Trelawney flipped the pages for the last time and it took Hermione a second to realize was memory she was watching. It was raining and the ground was covered in mud and water. She could hear the thunder and the rain hitting the ground. Harry was against a wall, his broom in hand. As for herself, she was leaning closer to him...  
  
Hermione snatched the book away from Trelawney's sight. She collected her things in a rushed manner and practically ran out of the room. She couldn't believe she took so long to take the book from her, she didn't want anyone seeing her personal memories with Harry. She didn't want to see the look on Trelawney's face and she realized she had stayed almost an extra half-hour in detention. She opened her planner again and the pages were blank except for her scribbled writing.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Well, I hoped you liked it. And that Mind Gazing thing wasn't just a page filler, it has some sort of meaning, so I hope you got it and will try to remember it for later! LOL but anyways, thanks for reading again, I'm so happy! 


	17. Minutes Before

Ok, haven't found time to type up my next installment.........been kinda hyped with the ROTK trailer that came out............yes I am one of those annoying LOTR freaks. Anyways, sorry for the wait, school's a pain in the fanny. LOL ok, here you go---  
  
** I don't really remember if JK describes Lavender's appearance, so I'm sort of making it up for now. If you know, could you tell me? Thanks!  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Dawn stretched its long, pink fingers across the pale sky the morning of Valentine's Day. Harry got up and took a brief shower. After getting dressed, he made his way slowly to the Great Hall. It was vibrantly decorated with colors of pink and red. Valentine candy was sprinkled on the tabletops and everywhere you looked, there was a big, red heart plastered somewhere.  
  
Harry spotted Ron and sat next to him. He was eating heart-shaped pancakes and the maple syrup had a reddish tint to it.  
  
"I wonder if anyone else remembered it was Valentine's Day?" Harry asked sarcastically.  
  
"Ya think?" Ron said as he grabbed for a napkin with a love poem engraved in gold on it. "Nervous about tonight?"  
  
"Not really," Harry lied and saw Hermione coming through the door. She was slouched over with her books in her arms and it looked like she didn't even brush her hair yet. But Harry didn't care about what she looked like and his heart leapt. "I can tell you are, though," Harry commented and Ron quickly glanced to Lavender sitting on the end of the table.  
  
Ron blushed and trying desperately to change the subject, looked up and saw a handful of owls fly in, "Hey, look, Errol!" He said and sure enough the Weasley's owl swooped through the window and almost fell straight down to the floor when he made it inside the hall. Ron ran over to him and caught him like a furry football in his hands. He had two long, narrow packages attached to his feet. It was a miracle he flew this far.  
  
Ron brought him to the table and untied the boxes from his feet. Errol rested limply on the table and Ron fed him with water and bits of waffle.  
  
Everyone was obviously watching and Ginny leapt up to Ron's side at the table. "What did Mum and Dad bring?" Ginny asked.  
  
"I dunno, but one's for you," Ron shrugged and handed one of the poorly packaged boxes to Ginny. Ginny propped the long box up against her leg and she tore the envelope off the card. She flashed her eyes over the note and gave a little shriek. And as she ran to the Gryffindor room with the box in her arm, she grabbed Hermione's shoulder and dragged her off as well.  
  
"Well, whatever's in here should be interesting," Ron said as he watched them leave.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Ginny ran, with Hermione being pulled behind her up the stairs. Ginny ripped through the halls and finally into the Common Room.  
  
"G—G---Ginny, what---?" Hermione panted as she keeled over, trying to breathe, "It's for you, so there's nothing to do with me."  
  
"But there is! Look" Ginny squealed and she tore the box apart. When the box was torn open, Ginny pulled out what had to be one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.  
  
"Ginny! What---Where did you get this?!" Hermione gasped and she ran her hands over the cool fabric. It was a gorgeous dress. It swayed softly like waves of water and light reflected hundreds of shades of purple. Occasionally it shimmered and flickered like stars and there were elegant straps for sleeves.  
  
"It was my mum's. She showed it to me once and said I could wear it one day," Ginny said and she draped it over her chest.  
  
"You'll look beautiful, Ginny," Hermione smiled.  
  
"So will you," Ginny said and she pulled out a second dress out of the box. "Mum sent her other dress just for you."  
  
"Ginny, I----I couldn't!" Hermione shook her head as Ginny handed her the dress. It was like Ginny's dress, the texture and feel, but different. It sparkled ribbons of smoky silver and in some lights it looked either a dark black or even a pearl shade. The dress came down longer than Ginny's and the silky sleeves went just past the shoulders.  
  
"Don't be dumb. I can only wear one dress and my mum sent the other just in case you wanted to wear it," Ginny explained.  
  
Hermione picked up the dress and finally gave in, "Oh, thank you so much, Ginny!" I can't wait to wear it." She thanked and set it gently back down. "By the way, who are you going with?"  
  
"Rich Waters. (Hermione gave a little laugh) Hufflepuff Beater. He's cute, just a little too much of a selfish showoff. But I needed a date," Ginny shrugged, Hermione saw Ginny was unhappy about it but she knew Ginny would make the best of the night. Hermione smiled, "I can't wait for tonight."  
  
*** *** ***  
  
"Hey Harry, have you seen my other shoe?" Ron asked and bent over to look under the bed.  
  
"Nope," Harry said absentmindedly. He was sitting in front of a mirror, trying to lie his hair flat. It was no use. He smoothed his hands over his hair but it poked through between his fingers. "Hey, did you ever open that box?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh—a, no. Not yet," Ron said and he grabbed the box off his bed. He tore the box open and laughed slightly, "Well, it's better than those dumb dress robes I was planning to wear."  
  
Harry gave up on his hair and got up. The box had a full suit lying in there. Ron pulled it out. It was a little big, but a lot better than his ridiculous dress robes.  
  
"Looks like they sent a little something for you," Ron commented and pulled out a long pair of handsome black pants.  
  
"They didn't have to.........," Harry mumbled. He was secretly thankful that they sent a pair of pants for him; his own dress pants were a couple of inches shorter than the last time he wore them. The dance was in an hour and he bit his tongue. He didn't expect it to be any different than the Yule Ball two years ago. The only thing he heard that was different was the dress code. They asked for the students to dress in either dress robes or any other outfit appropriate for the occasion.  
  
They finished getting ready dressed and checked the time. Twenty minutes before seven.  
  
"Uh, Ron?" Harry said and pointed to the bureau by the door. His show was sitting right there.  
  
"Oh," Ron said numbly and grabbed for his shoe, "Ready?"  
  
"Yeah......," Harry said and tried one last time at his hair. Success.  
  
"You look good," Ron smirked.  
  
"You look better," Harry said and he meant it. He never thought he'd see the day so soon with Ron in a suit. But he looked good and even older in a way. They walked down the stairs to the Common Room where they saw Seamus tying his shoes in a rushed manner.  
  
"Oh, hey guys. Hey, did I ever tell you I get to be 'director of music'? Or that's at least what the professors call it," Seamus asked and didn't even let Ron or Harry answer, "Yeah! I get to be DJ every other or so song with this 5th year kid. Pretty awesome, huh?" He asked hurriedly and looked down at his watch, "Holy crap! I gotta go!" Seamus yelled and ran out.  
  
"Hey watch your language!" Ron yelled at him, "Bloody hell, kids these days........." Ron smirked sarcastically. "Well, you know girls and how they like to primp. Fancy a game of chess?"  
  
*** **** ***  
  
"Ok. I'm ready to go," Ginny announced loudly as she entered into the 6th year girls' dorm.  
  
"Well, hold on. I'm not," Lavender said panicky, "I can't tell if my shoe's match my outfit."  
  
"They do. Now let's go," Ginny said impatiently. She walked past Lavender (who was now fumbling with her already-perfect hair) over to Hermione. She hadn't spoken, she was just standing still. She was in front of a full body mirror and she examined herself, a disgruntled look in her eyes.  
  
"I don't know what's wrong with me," Hermione mumbled.  
  
"Nothing. You look great, now lets go," Ginny assured but Hermione shook her head. She could now she what was wrong, only it was in the inside. She felt nervous and had no confidence at all. "You know what you need, makeup." Ginny said.  
  
"No," Hermione said abruptly, "I don't need to 'paint ' up my face until I can't recognize myself." She looked at her own brown eyes. She couldn't even remember a time when she put makeup on.  
  
"Come on, just a little. I swear you'll like it," Ginny said and opened her purse, "And stand up straight, slouching makes you look shorter." She informed in a motherly way.  
  
"No, Ginny I can't—"  
  
"Sure you can, now stand still."  
  
*** **** ***  
  
Harry and Ron played chess for a few minutes, and as always, Ron was winning. He demolished his queen already and was gloating everytime he trapped Harry's pieces.  
  
Harry made a quick move, knowing he was going to loose anyway. Then he looked up from the board.  
  
"Harry, let me give you a tip. You NEED to concentrate on the actual game!" Ron said and Harry raised his eyebrow and looked over Ron's shoulder. Ron glanced back behind him and stood up immediately. Harry stood next to him while Ginny and Pavati came down. No Hermione, nor Lavender.  
  
"Ron! You look smashing, darlin'!" Ginny said as she came down to him.  
  
"Not as smashing as you," Ron said grinning and kissed her hand, "You know, I'll be watching after you ALL night, little sis."  
  
Then Lavender and Hermione came down and Harry swallowed. He never thought Hermione could be more beautiful, but here was proof. Her hair was in more curls than waves and her dress made her eyes glow---also making Harry hold his breath. Ron gaped at Lavender and stole a few glances at Hermione.  
  
"You look---I---Are you ready to go?" Ron stuttered and Lavender nodded, blushing. Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Pavati followed behind.  
  
"Something's new about you," Harry muttered nervously to Hermione. He looked at her face and finally realized the difference. Her eyes were frosted over slightly with eye-shadow and Ginny ran mascara over her lashes. It didn't change her too much, but it made her look lovelier than ever.  
  
"Same with you, something's changed," She said softly and ruffled his hair with her fingers. "There," She smiled, "You look great." Don't lie to yourself, she told herself, he's gorgeous.  
  
*** **** ***  
  
Ok shorter than usual but I'll hopefully have the next chapter up sooner than last time. Sorry for any mistakes, I'm too busy to look up any details to see if I'm right. Thanx for the great reviews. 


	18. After Dark, Before Lights

Hmm, I really hate how it's taking me about a week to update, I wish I could like, every other day. Thanks for the reviews, I love knowing who my readers are, it makes me so happy! ;)  
  
K, well, I can never tell you when a chapter is gonna be 'fluff' or whatever...still dunno what that really means. I see it as holding hands and cute-sy little stuff. Everyone has a different view on that word. My fan-fiction lingo isn't all that great.... canon, fanon?? Ok here's the chapter already! LOL---  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
The Great Hall was full of people dancing when the six got there. The Great Hall decorations had out done themselves and the lights were dimmed down to a pinkish glow. The ceiling was enchanted to the usual nighttime stars, but tonight the moon was full and there seemed to be twice as many stars. The snacks and drinks were off to the side; where the professors and headmaster's table sat, there was now a DJ record table with Seamus behind it.  
  
Ginny's date came up and took her to the dance-floor and Parvati found Padma and their date. Harry took Hermione and walked over to the floor, hoping it would make Ron follow with Lavender instead of standing there, turning red.  
  
"Ok ladies and gents, here's a good one coming up. One of the Weird Sisters number one hits----" Seamus announced enthusiastically.  
  
The music started and Hermione looked around the Great Hall. Poor Neville was sitting on the sides with Luna, who preferred watching people dance than actually doing it. Cho was dancing with a tall 7th year and she had obviously found a date. But something was missing.  
  
"Hey, notice something different?" Hermione asked Harry.  
  
He looked around and didn't notice anything at first, then he smiled, "No Malfoy---in fact, I don't see any of the Slytherins here."  
  
"It's the music," Dean pointed out, who was nosily listening to their conversation, "Having a Muggle dad, Seamus is really into muggle music. So when the Slytherin's found out that he would be playing muggle music half the time, they decided to ditch the dance."  
  
"Well, I'm not complaining," Hermione answered. Sure enough, when the song had ended, Seamus popped in a muggle song she had once heard on a muggle station before.  
  
In everyone's opinion in the beginning, the dance was a blast. It started off great and Harry was thankful that the Slytherins had neglected the dance. Seamus retired from the DJ stand for a bit to dance with his date and a short 5th year took over.  
  
"Ok guys, ready to slow it down a little? Get a partner, this is the first buddy dance of the night," the 5th year announced in a silky voice.  
  
At first, most of the dancers were hesitant but when the music started, everyone paired up to dance. Harry stood in front of Hermione, slightly dumbfounded on what to do or how to dance. He quickly learned from everybody else and placed his hands on her waist, her hands already on his shoulders. Hermione smiled nervously and looked over at Ron. She tipped her head in his direction and Harry looked over. Ron was grinning nonstop, his cheeks flaring.  
  
"I just love astrology and constellations. I learned so much in Divination," Lavender said with her head tilted up at the star blanketed ceiling.  
  
"Yeah....I've always liked that class," Ron mumbled quietly. Harry could tell Ron was embarrassed on what to do or say but he looked happier than ever to be dancing with Lavender.  
  
Harry turned his attention to Hermione's pure face again, the same one that had been watching him the whole time. She felt almost lucky to be dancing with him and he felt the same about her.  
  
"You know, if we saw all of ourselves now two years ago, I think we would of thought we were mental," Harry chuckled and Hermione laughed and held his shoulders tighter.  
  
After a few more songs, they both agreed to get off the floor for a while. Hermione spotted Ginny by herself by the food bench. "Be back in a minute, ok?" Hermione told Harry. She held his eyes with hers for a minute and turned away. Harry sat down for a second when he saw Ron coming up to him.  
  
--- "Hey how are you and Rich doing?" Hermione asked Ginny by the snack bowls.  
  
"Hmm, dunno. Sort of went our separate ways when I called him an ignorant prat, but that's a long story." Ginny said casually but Hermione could tell she was slightly disappointed.  
  
"So are you going to stand here eating all night?" Hermione asked skeptically.  
  
"Pretty much," Ginny shrugged and grabbed for a pretzel.  
  
"Well...why don't you ask someone to dance with you? Neville has been alone all night," Hermione said and grabbed a chip for herself.  
  
"I've been honestly thinking about it. Neville...he's, he's more genuine than people think he is," Ginny said sincerely and for the first time in a while, Ginny turned pink.  
  
"Then go ask him, he would ask you---he's just not all that confident," Hermione said and Ginny looked over in Neville's direction.  
  
"Ok, ok, I will," Ginny said and smiled shyly, "So how is it going with you?"  
  
"Good, real good...now stop stalling! Go ask him!" Hermione urged and Ginny started to cut through the groups of people.  
  
--- "You look satisfied," Harry joked and Ron crashed in the chair next to him.  
  
"Yeah, I'm having a great time. These shoes are killing me though," Ron commented but he looked like he could care less about the shoes.  
  
"You really like her?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yeah...I do," Ron muttered, "Need I ask about you and Hermione? You can't keep your eyes off each other," He teased. Harry glanced over to Hermione quickly but saw Ginny approaching them---or so they thought.  
  
"Hey Neville," Ginny said, trying to ignore Ron close by, "You want to dance?"  
  
"M-me?" Neville stuttered and looked around him, wondering if there was another 'Neville' around, "Sure---of course." She took him confidently and turned around and smirked at her speechless brother.  
  
"He looks happy." Harry commented, seeing Neville's overly joyful face.  
  
"I'm still keeping my eye on her...well, I better get back out there," Ron said and he stood up, "Honestly I can say I can't see you with anyone else, Harry."  
  
Neither can I, Harry thought, and he got up to join Hermione again.  
  
~o~o~o~  
  
"Long time, no see," Hermione said sarcastically. They drifted back to the dance floor, with Seamus as DJ again. They danced once again and Harry mused about what Ron said. When she had glanced away, he looked at her fair face; once disturbed from work was now sculpted into pure happiness. She couldn't help looking back when she noticed his attention on her, She had fell in love with his green eyes and messy raven hair, but there was much more: His charm, wit, determination, passion, audacity. She loved it all.  
  
He took notice of Neville stepping nervously with Ginny's feet and Ron's colored face and realized that they were probably the most infatuated couples there....including his self of course.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Hmm, a little short. The next chapter should be up soon, like in 2-3 days. I hope you liked it!! The more reviews the more inspired I get, I love knowing this story is being read!!!!! Thanx! 


	19. Lights

Hey! Thanks for your definition of 'fluff'. Yes, thanx so much for the great reviews!! I must be doing something right LOL---yeah, I know, I've always had a problem with grammar---I think it's amazing when people are bilingual and more so. I know about .8% of French.. LOL! I usually don't talk the same way I write; I use my 3rd grade vocabulary in my conversations hehe, ok not really. ;)  
  
Onward to the next chappie...hopefully this does the end of the dance justice. ;)  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
The dance floor slowly emptied its self when the clock chimed consistently on the hour. The sky got immensely darker and the marbled tile below their feet reflected the shining stars. Harry and Hermione lingered around the whole time, not particularly dancing at times. They'd sit, joke around, talk, and occasionally someone would come over and join them.  
  
"Alright, late-nighters, here's the last song to wrap up the night. Personal favorite of mine, hope everyone will come dance one last time. Here's 'Lights' by an 80's muggle group who goes by the name of Journey. Goodnight," Seamus announced and popped the CD in. He then left the table to go dance with his date for the last song.  
  
"One last dance?" Harry asked and Hermione accepted immediately.  
  
They moved to a dark corner of the floor and held each other for the final song. Hermione rested her hand on his shoulder and supported her weight on his body. He swayed rhythmically with her, recapping the wonderful night in his memory as the song started.  
  
~`+`~  
  
When the Lights go down in the City,  
  
And the Sun shines on the bay,  
  
Ooo, I want to be there in my City,  
  
Ooh, Ooh  
  
So you think you're lonely?  
  
Well, my friend I'm lonely too,  
  
I want to get back to my City by the bay,  
  
Ooh, Ooh  
  
It's sad, oh, there's been mornings,  
  
Out on the road without you.  
  
Without your charms.  
  
Ooh, My, My, My.  
  
When the Lights go down in the City,  
  
And the Sun shines on the bay,  
  
Ooo, I want to be there in my City,  
  
Ooh, Ooh  
  
~`+`~  
  
The crickets' chirping rang like wind chimes and all Harry could think about was Hermione's heartbeat next to his. If only everyday could be like this, he thought. If only I could keep this sweet bliss for everyday to come. No, it could never always be like this---there is too much agony and pain everywhere.  
  
"I don't want this song to end," Harry said. He did not want to let her go and being in love and being loved cleared his mind from the hurtful past. He wanted to forget.  
  
"Neither do I," Hermione whispered and looked up into the deep, hidden emotions etched in his eyes.  
  
It was unavoidable now and they kissed lightly on the lips, just barely. Then Hermione buried her face in his neck and Harry rested his hand against hers, closing his eyes.  
  
~`+`~  
  
When the Lights go down in the city,  
  
And the Sun shines on the bay,  
  
Ooo, I want to be there in my City,  
  
Ooh, Ooh  
  
~`+`~  
  
Harry looked up at the dancing couples around him, "We have an audience," He spoke in her ear.  
  
She looked up past his shoulder, hoping they weren't the center of attention, but there were only a few couples, like Ron's and Ginny's, who had looked over. She grinned out of embarrassment and tried to nonchalantly resume dancing.  
  
Ron turned quickly towards Lavender, humiliated that Hermione saw him looking at them. He figured as much that Harry and Hermione had kissed before, most likely more than that, but now that he saw it---it still gave him a funny feeling seeing his best friends like that. As for Ginny, she found it pretty adorable.  
  
The song ended with its final note and slowly everyone walked back to their dorms. Harry and Hermione procrastinated their way up, being the last people in the Common Room. They purposely 'lost' themselves on the staircases and in the halls. There was even a time when they had to dodge Ms. Norris. All they didn't need was another month's detention.  
  
The Common Room was pitch-black of looming shadows, all except for the fire burning fiercely in the fireplace. It was quiet and empty and the wood snapped with sparks. Harry had his hand on the back of Hermione's dress and guided her through the dark room. The clear window framed the night sky and the full moon was shrouded in the blackness. Harry's mind slipped to Lupin and wondered where he was now, alone. His mind went astray and his hand glided down to Hermione's side.  
  
"Ah! Don't, don't!" She shrieked and jumped back.  
  
She broke his train of thought and he smiled curiously, "What? Are you ticklish?" Harry asked and tried to grab her sides again.  
  
He chased her around the Common Room and she dodged him by running in- between tables and chairs. He caught her by the arm and she fell back on the couch. He sat down next to her and she looked out the window. She thought of Lupin as well and they sat in silent thought.  
  
"I should probably get to bed," Hermione suggested sleepily and tried to keep her eyes open by focusing on the flickering flames.  
  
"Yeah, me too," Harry mumbled, "I had a great time tonight."  
  
"So did I," She said slipping into slumber.  
  
------  
  
Hermione shivered from the cold and looked straight up at the ceiling above her. It was late, or at least early in the morning before the sun rose. She grabbed blindly in the dark for any covers but never found any. The remaining log in the fireplace glowed weakly and she knew she wasn't in her bed. She struggled to get up and saw Harry still upright on the couch, his head back and his feet on the coffee table. She lay back down for a brief moment and Harry stirred from his uneasy sleep.  
  
"Good morning...night, whichever," He slurred sleepily.  
  
She rubbed her eyes and mumbled, "I better...better get back up before, you know," She stood up but Harry straightened up abruptly.  
  
"Please---stay here," Harry said. She wasn't sure if this was his innocent way of seduction but it worked. She sat next to him and leaned back also to look at the ceiling.  
  
"Someone might see us. You know what people think," She pointed out, the energy draining from her again.  
  
"Well, a lot of people see us and I don't care about what people think. They saw us at the dance, so I don't see the difference," He whispered and went back to sleep.  
  
----------  
  
The morning came quick and Hermione felt like she only got a few minutes of sleep. It was past nine o'clock and Hermione forced herself to get up. She shook Harry awake, "We've missed breakfast---classes start soon," She mumbled groggily and Harry groaned, "I know, but we need to get up." She said and when Harry had gotten up finally, she went to go get ready for the classes.  
  
Harry stumbled up the stairs and he flopped on his bed. He hated not getting enough sleep; it affected his mood. He was tired but knew he couldn't get back to sleep. He lay there for a few minutes, struggling to stay awake when Ron and a couple of the 6th year boys came in.  
  
Harry got up and started to look for his robes for that day. Ron sloppily made his bed and got his books, "You weren't at breakfast." He pointed out obviously.  
  
"Yes, I know. I slept in," Harry said annoyed, trying to find a clean pair of pants. He got dressed quickly and looked frantically for his Charms book, his first class starting in twenty minutes. He looked in his trunk, wondering if he might have thrown it in there at one time. He found it finally in there, but came across a folded piece of paper stuck in the corner of the book. He unfolded it away from Ron's view, the paper already showing signs of yellowing. He tried to hold the note still and blinked his blurring eyes, trying to read Sirius's handwriting.  
  
Ron was sitting on Harry's bed, waiting for him so they could walk to class when he said, "So how was last night for you? I mean, I wasn't the only one who saw you two on the couch. Anything happen??" Ron hinted teasingly.  
  
"You know, I have more respect for Hermione than to see 'how far' I can get with her!" Harry snapped and shoved the note carelessly into the bottom of his trunk. He grabbed his books and headed for the door. He tried to blank out memories of Sirius but they kept coming back, almost haunting him. He hadn't forgotten Sirius and knew he never would. Almost everyday he remembered watching his death and keeping the anger in was torture. And why can't Ron leave me alone? He thought and his temper rose just thinking about his 5th year.  
  
Ron followed and stopped him on the stairs, "Look, that's not what I meant. You didn't need to take it that way."  
  
"Well maybe you should keep out of my business," He spat and in no time he was in the halls, Ron no longer following at his side. He got to Charms fifteen minutes early and was the only one in the classroom. He buried his face angrily in his hands, trying to calm down. Something's wrong with me, he thought. I blow up when anything reminds me of my dead godfather. Maybe I shouldn't have snapped at Ron, but he doesn't know me. He doesn't know anything about me. Then he slammed his hand on his desk thinking about how stupidly selfish he sounded. How could things go from so good to so bad? Why did Sirius have to die...why can't I live like everyone else? He didn't need to ask these questions, he knew the answers to them already.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Hmm, the ending sort of twisted there. I can't write this story without mentioning his 5th year and Sirius, I mean it was a huge event. So things might be changing from now on (you'll have to wait and see)--- Reviews are always great. ;)  
  
Oh yes, and that song in the beginning, it's a great song. I didn't want to pick anything with a particular love theme or whatever, but if you can, try to see if you can listen to this song. Kazza, some music download website, whatever. :) 


	20. Unleashed Fury

I'd like to personally thank all of you for reviewing but that would take too long and you want to read right?? Hehe, well hears ...wow! Chapter 20 already! That deserves a party!! Well, maybe a cake--- or a review? In a party card of course! Ok enough with my mindless ramblings, here's the next chappie---not the best I think, just events after the dance again and hopefully it will pick up the pace in the next chapter!  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Hermione rushed to her first class that day, carrying two more books for her other classes. She still had about five minutes, but she liked getting to her classes a little earlier. She was thinking about the conversations that she overheard that morning in the dorm. She knew they were talking about her and Harry when they thought she wasn't listening. Most of the gossip was coming from Parvarti and Lavender wouldn't stop talking about how she never realized how 'incredibly blue Ron's eyes were'. Thus, that was another reason she wanted to get to class a few minutes before it started.  
  
She walked into Charms and said good morning to Professor Flitwick. Only a handful of students were in the class and she spotted Harry alone without Ron. It was one of the few classes she had with Harry and she walked over to him.  
  
"Good morning," She said smiling, knowing it wasn't the first time she said it today, as she took Ron's seat.  
  
Harry looked up at her happy face and smiled back weakly, "Morning."  
  
"Something wrong?" She asked. She could tell something was on his mind and it troubled him. She knew that look on his face, it was the same one she got used to seeing last year: aggravated and short-tempered.  
  
"No, no. I'm just tired, that's all," He lied and tried to look convincing. Remember? I'm the one who can get though anything thing, he thought bitterly. No, actually, I'm not all right and I hate lying and sugarcoating my feelings around you and everyone else. He slightly turned back to his book.  
  
"Harry, you can tell me," She said but she was interrupted. Class was called to order and Ron walked up to get to his desk. She moved to her usual seat in the front and opened her book to the assigned page. When she got the chance, she pretended to look like she was checking the time on the clock behind her.  
  
Her eyes traveled to Harry and Ron. Harry was hardly concentrating on Flitwick's lesson and Ron wasn't even trying. There was a tension between them and Harry had that disturbed look on his face again. She resumed to the lesson and the pages in front of her, but the thoughts in her head were distracting her.  
  
She wished she knew what bothered him. She wanted to be there for him but he always turned away to be alone. Why can't he let me help him? She thought to herself. Just think of his past and what he's been though, she argued back. It's none of your business. She knew that, but she wanted to be a part of it.  
  
~`+`~  
  
Lunch came by to everyone's relief. The teachers assigned longer and more difficult homework now that the excitement of the dance was over, and it was hard to get used to. Harry sat in silence, his appetite lost again. Ron sat directly in front of him, and was even picking at his food.  
  
He put his fork down and spoke quietly under the busy chatter around them. "Look, I'm sorry, really. I didn't mean to make you mad. What I said was none of my business, and I'm a jerk I guess," He mumbled.  
  
Harry shrugged and stayed quiet. Then after was seemed like hours, he said, "Forget it---and you're not a jerk." He was still annoyed about what he said but he didn't want to give Ron the silent treatment.  
  
"Oh come off it, I can be a jerk sometimes," said Ron.  
  
"Well----yeah, you can," Harry said. He laughed and all the weight of being mad at Ron came off his shoulders. Ron smirked, but he was happy. He had his best friend back.  
  
Hermione skipped up to Harry and Ron and let her books thump on the table, "Sorry, I was taking extra notes after History of Magic."  
  
"But we didn't even take notes!" Ron pointed out.  
  
"Well, it doesn't hurt to write the lesson down to study for tests!" She said cheerfully, now that she sensed the tension between the two had gone.  
  
The Owl Post came in and the owls, as usual, swooped in and delivered letters and boxes. Hegwid flapped her large, white wings down to Harry's side. She came with nothing but she nuzzled up to Harry, hoping for a free treat. Hermione paid a grey-feathered owl for a Daily Prophet and fed it a piece of bread crust for the journey back. She missed the paper that morning and she felt like she needed to know from time to time what was happening outside of Hogwarts. The owl flew away and she opened the paper. She glanced at the front page and a pain hit her in her chest. She briefly looked at it and set it back down.  
  
Curious about why she neglected the paper so fast, Harry reached out for it, "Can I see it for a minute?" Hermione nodded and went back to eating her lunch quietly with her head bowed down. Harry read the headline and had a feeling he knew why it had made her uncomfortable.  
  
`'`'`'`  
  
MUGGLEBORN ATTATCKS RISING, THREE INJURED  
  
On the content streets of London on Burbank and Shore St., three Muggleborns were approached and attacked at 10: 37 PM. The five cloaked men/women have not been caught or identified.  
  
"We do not have any doubts that it is the same group of Purebloods that attacked muggleborn wizard, Joseph Amistad, this previous Tuesday," exclaims official Marty Shunt of the Ministry of Magic, " The rate of crimes against Muggleborns have been steadily going up in the last month."  
  
From the...  
  
`'`'`''`  
  
Harry stopped reading and put the paper back down. Hermione was still eating and stared down at her plate. Ron took notice of the headline and scowled, "Oh, I saw that this morning," He murmured angrily, "From what I've heard, they're not direct Death Eaters of You-Know-Who. Just young amateur wizards who follow Him," He spat and mumbled something about the 'stupid prats being bias'.  
  
"Hermione, are you ok?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yeah," She said and realized how much she sounded like Harry in Charms and she sighed, "It's just I can't understand how wizards and witches can convert to being so intolerant and...I don't know," She said softly and collected her stuff abruptly in her silent fury.  
  
"I don't get it either," Harry said and had a sudden urge to comfort her. She stood up and smiled shortly and left for her next class.  
  
~`+`~  
  
February ended and the chill of winter slowly became engulfed by March's welcoming warmth. Harry and Hermione's detentions ended at the end of February and it, ironically, left Harry in a bitter mood. That night, Harry finished the last assignment for his detention and before he left he came to Snape's desk.  
  
"I was wondering if I could have my belongings back now that my detentions have been served," Harry said in a patient manner, not wanting to screw it up and lose his chance.  
  
"Your belongings, Potter? Tell me this. Why would I give your possessions back if I know you'll just go on another nightly trip with your Invisibility Cloak?" Snape said and shot daggers with his eyes.  
  
Harry stood there waiting. He would not let Snape keep his things for his own entertainment.. Snape looked back up at Harry, still standing there, "Is there something you cannot fathom, Potter? The answer is NO!" He spat and Harry stormed out, trying to keep himself from raiding Snape's office for his cloak and Snitch.  
  
Other than that, the weeks went on as usual. Their only worries were the work the teachers gave. Things were going better with Ron and Lavender, the more Ron got over his shyness for her. The walked to class more and Harry and Hermione would tag along sometime. They walked to Herbology one day and walked out to the greenhouses. It was a warm day and the trees swayed with the slight, cool breeze. Neville was in the middle of the trail picking up his books on the floor, along with his scattered papers. Hermione and the rest stopped to help.  
  
"Thanks, guys. You didn't have to---" Neville said and he blushed. He ordered his papers back into the right books and someone from behind came up with a smug look on his face.  
  
"Malfoy, get lost," Harry spat before Malfoy could add anything, but Malfoy ignored him.  
  
"Potter, why don't you shut up and keep helping this dunce," Malfoy sneered as he walked by with Crabbe and Goyle. But then he turned around as a new insult brewed in his mind, "Of course, my father says---"  
  
"Malfoy, get a life because your father has already lost his to Voldemort," Ron spat as he forced to say His name.  
  
Malfoy's face started to burn and instead of glaring at Ron, he turned to Neville still kneeling on the ground, "From what my father tells me," he continued, "You are just as clumsy as your mother and father. But of course, they can't do much anymore can they?? Crazy, lying in St. Mungo's...."  
  
Neville didn't stand up and tried to keep his eyes from spilling tears, but Harry jumped in front of Malfoy, with his wand pointed right at his face, "Take that back, Malfoy. Now," Harry growled as the rage rose in his chest. He wanted to see Malfoy in complete pain. Neville's parents didn't deserve what they got from Bellatrix, and Neville didn't deserve this from him.  
  
Malfoy reached for the insides of his robes but Harry was too quick. He whipped his wand and cursed Malfoy with the first spell that came to his mind. Malfoy twisted up and fell on the ground. Crabbe and Goyle jumped back and watched in horror, now that they felt that they could do nothing. Harry cursed him again and Malfoy was hit with another surge of what felt like hot knives. He hated Malfoy, and he hated his father the Death Eater. Even more, he hated Bellatrix for ruining the Longbottom's' life and taking Sirius's. He once again swung his wand over his head but his hand was stopped as Ron caught his arm and pulled him back.  
  
"LET ME GO!" He screamed but Ron pulled him back farther away, with Harry still struggling. Professor Spout came out and so did Pr. McGonagall, running out of Hogwarts. They were yelling at the group around Malfoy's crumpled body on the ground but Harry couldn't hear them. He was deaf to their scolding and other students stopped to see what was going on.  
  
Professor McGonagall was in complete fury and her face was growing angrier by the second, "WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE?? I WANT SOME ANSWERS NOW!" She bellowed and she looked at Harry, with his wand in hand, "Potter! I would think that after your last detentions you would have learned from them!! Apparently not, I see! Seventy points from Gryffindor and you'll come with me as we plan another detention!" She yelled and took Harry away from the scene. Pr. Spout uncursed Malfoy from a freezing spell and carried him away inside the castle.  
  
Ron, Lavender, Hermione and Neville stood there watching them walk towards the castle. Neville rushed off without them to Herbology, even though Pr. Spout wouldn't be there. Tears stung his eyes and he was shaking out of embarrassment and agony. Ron and Lavender followed quietly together, and left without looking back. But Hermione wouldn't move. She had never seen Harry like that before. The fire in his eyes and the look on his face to create total pain towards Malfoy made her sick to her stomach. He had lost all sort of control of himself and she didn't want to know that side of him.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Yikes, I didn't plan that really. I would of updated earlier but I was in writer's block on what to do. Don't worry, Harry will be back to normal by the next chapter. *hugs Harry*  
  
I wish I could go into detail on things, like the new DADA teachers and meeting with Hagrid but that would push the plot farther away. So if you were wondering about that stuff, sorry!! Hope I get reviews for this chapter, the ending kind of scares me but hey, Malfoy's a jerk. No flames please... :( 


	21. The Common Room

OK! Finally! So sorry for the delay! I know Dumbledore hasn't really played a big part in the story yet and yes, he is in this one. I would of had him in here earlier with countless other things happening but I don't want this to be a mini Harry Potter novel, and focus too much away from what this is: A H/Hr romance. So here it is, don't worry-Harry's had some TLC down in my place and he'll be back to normal, hehe.  
  
Excuse my writing---lately it's been pretty 'OK', I've been rushed. I like to make sure my chapters are good before I submit but so much work!! Grrr!  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Professor McGonagall walked down the hall, with Harry behind her heels. She brought him to her office and he sat down, not looking her in the eyes. She was known for her 'looks' and right now, Harry wasn't in the mood to see one. His mind buzzed with different emotions when they had walked down the hall. He was in one of McGonagall's big gold and red chairs and he didn't want to explain anything at the moment; he felt humiliated for his acts.  
  
He looked up finally after he heard McGonagall sigh. She wasn't scowling at him, which was better than nothing. She looked worried and searched Harry for any explanation for him.  
  
"Harry," she said at last, "I don't know what happened out there and I don't propose I will try to find out. That last detention was long enough so you will not need to go through anymore for this event. I am sorry for the major point deduction but I need to do my job here and make sure you remember your consequences." She said at last, and her voice was soft and nothing near her usual stern, teaching voice. "Believe me, I don't like taking points from my own house."  
  
He wanted to respond back to her mild smile but he couldn't. He felt heavy guilt, and he wasn't sure why. After what Malfoy said about Neville's parents, Harry thought he would never feel sorry for what he did to him, but he did and he felt like dirt.  
  
"I hope you won't do this again," She said, "I know you've had a difficult last two years and I'm not about to say I understand what you feel because I don't. But if you need anything at all, you're not alone in this." Harry nodded and she stood up. She wasn't trying to get into his mind on how he felt and she didn't avoid him and leave him to his own feelings...and Harry felt comfort in that.  
  
"Before I let you get back out to class, I want you to follow me to the Headmaster's Office." She said at last.  
  
Harry was already out of his seat and he finally spoke and looked her straight in the eyes, "No, I think I can take it from here." But Professor McGonagall was already out the door and he knew he had to follow.  
  
He followed her to the familiar hallway to his office and she spoke the password to let him in (Bertie Bott). He walked into the office, dreading it as old memories filled his mind. Dumbledore was in a corner, looking for a particular book on the shelf and Harry stepped towards his desk. He looked at his trinkets on the desks and tables and felt like an idiot to be back in here. Last time, he would have probably thrown it clear across the room. Dumbledore turned around and he wasn't surprised to see Harry standing there in the middle of his office. He signaled him to sit down and Harry did.  
  
"Hello, Harry," Dumbledore said and he relaxed in his chair, "I know what happened, and I have nothing else to add to what Pr. McGonagall has already said." He said and sighed. Harry looked over behind him and saw Phoenix cleaning her feathers on her golden perch. She looked radiant and as proud as ever and she cooed quietly.  
  
Dumbledore sat up and went to her perch. He stroked her flaming-red feathers and she chirped loudly in her serenity. He closed his eyes, weary from age and deep thought and said, "I haven't been there for you as much this year. If you've noticed, I haven't called you in my office on random occasions or gone up to you myself to see if you need any consoling. In the years I've known you, Harry, I thought you would like it better to take it by yourself, rather than being flooded by teachers with sympathy. But if I'm wrong with my assumption, let me know. There is still a lot to know about you, Harry Potter." Harry stared at Phoenix and glanced at Dumbledore out of slight appreciation, even though a pang hit his heart with Sirius on his mind.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ··  
  
Hermione, Lavender, and Ron sat in the Common Room by the fire, with their class's work sprawled all over the table and floor. Hermione sat on the floor and worked quietly on the floor as she tried to read her assigned chapter in Herbology. She realized she had been reading the same paragraph about Dittany and Wolfsbane for the last ten minutes, not advancing to anywhere. Ron and Lavender helped each other on the couch with their Divination work, frequently changing the subject and then continuing their work for another two minutes.  
  
Hermione tried once again, this time reading it slightly to herself, but it was no use. She couldn't concentrate with her mind muddled with other thoughts. She checked the Portrait Hole every few seconds, hoping that Harry would be coming through.  
  
"I wonder where Harry has been," Lavender said half-mindedly.  
  
"Probably detention, or something," Ron mumbled.  
  
"I've never seen Harry that mad before," Lavender said and suddenly Hermione wished they would shut up.  
  
"You can't blame him from what he's been through," Ron said.  
  
Hermione glared at him, "It has nothing to do with last year."  
  
Lavender bit her cheek and knew that maybe it wasn't the best time to be talking about Harry, but she decided to not come in on something that she wasn't involved with.  
  
Ron gave her a skeptical look and said, "Oh, come off it, Hermione. You and I know that Harry has changed since last year."  
  
"No he hasn't! You don't know anything about that!" She snapped gravely.  
  
"And you do?" He snapped back and Lavender wrung her hands uncomfortably.  
  
"I forgot to-um, I need...yeah," She said and walked up swiftly up the stairs.  
  
Hermione waited until she heard her go up the stairs and turned back to Ron. "Why do you act like Harry's some fuse ready to blow?! Nothing has made him change!"  
  
Ron dropped his book off his lap onto the table and he cried out of frustration, "But there is! You can't expect him to be the same year after year, after he has battled the Dark Lord and seen people die in front of his eyes! You don't know anything about him!"  
  
Hermione stood up bluntly, "Don't tell me what I know and don't know about him!!" She cried and grabbed her books and rushed out of the room. Ron clenched his teeth and didn't watch her walk off. She stomped up the stairs and before she reached the door to the dorm, she heard the Portrait Door open and she stopped. She heard Harry's voice weakly and she wanted more than anything to run back down there. Then she turned the doorknob and walked into the girls' dorm.  
  
~`+`~  
  
Hermione set her books on her bed and walked to the bathroom without looking too obvious that something was wrong. Lavender was doing her homework on the floor and saw Hermione slam the door of the bathroom. She thought of asking her if she was all right, but she kept her mouth shut like before and tried to turn back to her homework. The rest of the girls took no notice of her.  
  
Hermione took in front of the mirror and supported herself on the sink. Her arms were shaking and she burst out crying. She wasn't even sure why she was, but she didn't try to fight it. It's just so stupid, she thought, just so stupid. Was she really crying over Harry? Her mind tried to keep stubborn but she started to doubt. I know enough about Harry, she thought, don't I know him well enough? Then she kicked herself mentally for sounding for ignorant. There's more about him that I'll never know, she thought and she felt better the more she cried.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Aarrgg! That was too short for my liking, but I don't really like this chapter. Hope all the HP facts are right in this story, I'm sort of distracted right now and trying to get this chapter up. Hopefully chapter 22 will start to pick up the pace, but I would like to know what you thought of this chappie. Thanks, you all are awesome. ;) 


	22. Behind His Glasses

Holy crap, it's been nearly a month. I'm sorry guys, it's just school and other FF stories and a whole bunch of stuff. You guys seen the new POA trailer?? I can't wait till the third HP movie comes out! Ok, here's Chapter 22. I have an idea about what's gonna happen but nothings planned so here it is. (Excuse my grammar and spelling LOL)  
  
PS: Thanks so much for pointing out my little mistake in my last chapter, Lynn Joe. Duh! I can't believe I called Fawkes 'Phoenix' like, three times and not even notice it! Thanks.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
The end of the year tests were coming up soon, and even though it was only a couple of months away, the professors gave them plenty of work. March dragged by slowly and when April hit, light showers came every once in a while. Harry kept quiet about the whole Malfoy incident and nobody brought it up anywise. Ron and Hermione weren't too friendly with each other after their last fight, but surprisingly enough Hermione noticed Ron trying to let go of the whole thing and forget. So that's what she did. April was at a good start so far.  
  
"Where did you guys find that information about Balfour Blane?" asked Lavender. She was clinging closer to the group more than ever...whenever Ron was around of course.  
  
"Here," Hermione said and she passed her a large red-leather book. They had been studying together in the Common Room more often now, and it made their work easier. Harry had been stuck on the same page for about 10 minutes and he snapped it shut.  
  
"Well," he sighed, "I think I need a well deserved break," He smiled and got up with his books.  
  
"So in other words, you're done for the night?" Ron asked and Harry nodded, "That sounds about right," Harry said and he headed for the stairs.  
  
"Goodnight, guys. Goodnight, Hermione," He said and walked to the dorm.  
  
The embers in the fire glowed and snapped and Ron, Lavender and Hermione were downstairs with their work. Hermione collected her papers and quill, "I'll see you two in the morning." She said.  
  
"I don't know how you do it. I still have another assignment to start! You wouldn't mind letting me 'borrow' that homework, would ya?" Ron asked and Hermione grabbed her books.  
  
"The answers for Charms are on page 673." She said.  
  
"Don't know what I'd do without you, Hermione," Ron said jokingly and turned to that page. Lavender opened her book too and said, "Hey, Harry forgot his wand out here." His wand lay on the table next to Lavender's schoolbooks.  
  
Hermione grabbed it, "Here, I'll give it to him. Goodnight," She said and walked to the boys' dormitory.  
  
She came up and all the beds were abandoned and the room was black all except a single candle lit in the corner of the room. Harry wasn't there but the shower was running behind the closed bathroom door and she figured that was where he was. She stepped over to his bedside table and lay his wand down next to his books. Sitting right next to his books was his glasses and she put her books down at her feet and picked his glasses up.  
  
She smiled as she thought of him and her heart melted when she imagined him holding her. She never thought in all her life that she would even be this close to Harry. She wanted to know everything about him and wondered if he ever thought about her as much as she did of him. She sat on his bed and felt her wand poke her side in her pocket. She took it out and a crazy idea came to her.  
  
No, she mused, I can't do it.  
  
Yes you can, as long as he doesn't find out. And besides, you wanted to know more about him, so here's your chance.  
  
No, no. It would be violating his personal thoughts...  
  
She bit her lip and fingered her wand. The thought of Trelawney came to her and that day where she taught her that spell for Mind Gazing. She knew it was a bad idea only causing trouble, but...  
  
Come on, just one memory, she thought and her curiosity took over her.  
  
She took her wand and with a deep breath she placed her wand on Harry's glasses. Ok, she thought, let's see if I even remember this. She tapped her wand and searched her mind for a memory of herself and Harry. She closed her eyes and thought of the day before with Harry when she walked to lunch with him. Nothing.  
  
She tapped the wand again and searched for a stronger memory; one that had stuck in her mind for a while. She then thought of the first day that she met Harry on the train to Hogwarts. Her head throbbed and she felt a tingle go down from her spine to the fingers on her wand. She opened her eyes and hesitantly lifted the glasses to her face. She looked through them and her heart pounded. The glasses were showing her his memories. His own memories...  
  
She tried to make out what the first one was but then it changed. She tried again with the new memory but it kept changing. Then she remembered Trelawney's words: 'Mind Gazing, if done correctly, can let you see into the deepest memories in the depths of a person's mind. Both good and bad memories, in no particular order--- Every object is different that you cast the spell on-- You need to figure out how to trigger a new memory for the object, and that can take some time.'  
  
She blinked her eyes a couple of times and realized a new memory came up with every blink. So she closed her eyes for a minute and opened them, forcing them not to blink.  
  
'*'*'*'*'  
  
She could see through his eyes and she saw that he was on a broom flying towards some kind of ball or trinket. He caught it and she saw it was Neville's Remembrall and he flew down. She knew this was when he first flew on a broom and she closed her dry eyes.  
  
'*'*'*'*'  
  
He was at the Weasley's house eating breakfast and he was laughing at Ron. Fred and George's rooms were making exploding sounds and Mrs. Weasley mumbled to herself about controlling her boys. She accidentally blinked before she could see more and a new memory was triggered.  
  
'*'*'*'*'  
  
There was Ginny, lying bone-white on the wet, stone floor. Harry's arms were scratched and bleeding and she couldn't tell whom the young man was standing in front of him. He was tall with dark eyes and they shown with hate and malice. She heard hissing sounds and when he turned his head the memory was gone.  
  
'*'*'*'*'  
  
She closed her eyes, trying to get ready for the new memory. Se had to control her blinking and she opened her eyes. Suddenly, she felt cold and the memories were getting darker and almost evil. She shivered and a cold breeze seemed to whip at her face. She saw Cedric standing next to him and her heart jumped to see his face, alive and bright, but frightened. He stumbled back and before she could do anything, a green flash filled her eyes and she saw Cedric dead before he hit the ground. She covered her mouth, trying not to scream and she finally blinked, her hands trembling.  
  
'*'*'*'*'  
  
Her hands shook and when she opened her eyes and saw Sirius again. She knew what was coming. She tried not to scream and before Bellatrix's wand came down in front of him, Hermione closed her eyes, trying not to cry. This is it, she thought, I'm done. I don't want to see anymore.  
  
'*'*'*'*'  
  
She opened her eyes for the last time and before her hands reached his glasses on her face, she screamed and her arms fell. Before she closed her eyes in extreme torment, she saw Dumbledore standing in front of Harry and something binding his body. Her head felt like it was going to split and she couldn't move. Even with her eyes closed, she felt something holding her tightly and her head searing with pain. She had no control.  
  
"If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy. . . . ."  
  
These words filled her mind and she opened to mouth to scream again, but nothing came and she wanted to escape.  
  
'*'*'*'*'  
  
Finally the grasp of death was gone and the glasses were no longer on her face. She was on the floor and from what she could make out, Harry was over her with Ron and a handful of other students. She shook uncontrollably and Harry lifted her up, his hair wet from the shower. She couldn't believe she actually even looked into his thoughts and she wanted to get away from everybody, but her legs shook with her body. She attempted not to cry and she didn't want Harry to be hurt when she told him. She knew he would hate her for being so stupid. She already hated herself.  
  
"Hermione! W-what's wrong? What happened?" He asked and he set his glasses aside, not sure what she was doing with them. She lifted her up and held her hand to stop it from shaking. He searched her face, which was pale and stained from tears. What had happened was beyond him and he worried for her sake.  
  
"I'm-I-I'm so s-sorry! I didn't mea-mean too!" She choked and she grasped him and passed out.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
End of Chapter 22.Sorry to keep you waiting so long. Thanks! 


	23. The Agony of Heartbreak

Ahh! Yes! A nice, loooooong chapter to make up how sorry I am to you readers about how long it took me to update this story! Hopefully, this will do it justice. All good things come to an end, and I hope my story is pretty good. But anyway, I'm sorry to say that this story only has a few more chapters until it is done. *sniff*  
  
The stars around the word(s) (whatever they call them) are italics...my word document doesn't let them show on FF for some reason. I could use a different word doc. But I'm lazy *wink*.  
  
Chapter 23: The Agony of Heartbreak  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
"Hermione? Hermione, wake up! Come on, Hermione," Harry called for her and he lifted her up. Slowly she woke up and when she regained her senses she burst out in tears again. Harry looked up from the group of students who had come up to see what happened and pulled her up on her feet.  
  
"H-harry, let me explain..." Hermione whispered faintly and she pulled him away from the cluster of curious boys. He guided her down the stairs and she stopped midway when her eyesight went out of focus. Her head throbbed from the pain she felt only minutes ago and her knees almost buckled. She forced herself to walk down and stumbled towards the portrait out of the common room light-headedly.  
  
They climbed out and when the portrait closed (the fat lady was gone from her frame), she slid down the wall to the cold floor and buried her eyes in her hand. Harry kneeled down in front of her and looked down the dark corridors. Empty.  
  
"Hermione," Harry whispered, even though no one was listening, "What happened? I don't understand. I came in and you were writhing on the floor...please, I need to know!" He pleaded and he ran his hand though his hair.  
  
She turned to him, her eyes shining with foreboding tears and she dreaded how he would react, "Harry, promise me you won't hate me, please. It'll kill me inside...b-but I wouldn't blame you if you do. I'm so sorry!" She cried and she took his glasses off his face. "I don't know what drove me to do it. If it was the impulse to know everything about you or my argument with Ron, I don't know, I don't know! B-but here, I'll tell you everything." Her breath shuddered and tears finally spilled down her face.  
  
She gave a short laugh, but it seems emotionless and cold, "You'll probably think I'm crazy." She took her wand out of her school cloak and set it on her lap with his glasses. "It's a spell I learned in detention nearly, I don't know, three months ago and never thought twice about it. Until I saw your glasses in the room upstairs and everything me and Ron fought about kept repeating in my mind." She paused and Harry kept quiet to listen, "He said I didn't know you as well as I thought I did and how you were different from the Harry I thought you were. And of course, I didn't believe him...because I know we know each other so well. So when those arguments kept haunting me tonight, that spell came to mind."  
  
Her lip quivered and she shivered, from the cold of the tile and the dread growing in her mind, "Harry..." She whispered and she clenched her teeth in pain, "I looked into your memories. Only for a bit, but I saw enough. I'm so sorry, I never knew. I-I just, I wish I hadn't! I feel so awful that I could...I don't know. I don't know anymore."  
  
Harry looked down hard for a long time and when he looked back up, his eyes were blank and empty of any emotion, "What did you see?" He asked clearly and his voice echoed down the hall.  
  
Her cheeks burned and she wiped her hot tears away, "Things, things I didn't w-want to see. Things I never knew you had seen. Old memories with the Dursleys, our second year...C-Cedric..." She paused and threw her head down in her lap and her voice was muffled but was as strong as ever, "Sirius, I saw him. Something I never thought I would see again. B-b-but then I tried to stop and *he* took hold of me and I couldn't move, or think, or escape!" She pleaded shamefully and she looked up.  
  
"I couldn't understand what he said and my head was splitting from the horrible pain. I don't know why I did it. I never want to hurt you, Harry, but I did! I don't know wh-what to say," She said and she looked at his eyes and gave his glasses back in an awkward silence.  
  
They sat there in the dark and Harry looked down at particularly nothing, his face was motionless and pale in the dim moonlight that shone through the windows. The utter stillness killed Hermione; she wanted him to say something, anything. But he sat like a statue of stone, thinking over everything.  
  
The clock chimed eleven times and rang down the halls. Harry finally tilted his head up and searched Hermione's face. "Hermione, there is a reason I don't mention things like this to you because-because I know you would pity me, like everyone else does. But I don't want to be pitied by you or anyone. Hermione, there are things I don't want you to know, at all about me, no matter how close we get. I wish you hadn't seen those." He said finally and Hermione stubbornly leaned forward.  
  
"And why not? I understand we keep our secrets, but why can't I know? Harry, you know I love you and I'll understand everything if you give me a chance! I have nothing to hide! Why can't you see I'm trying to be here for you?" She asked and he looked at her as his face grimaced into an irritated stare.  
  
"I knew this would happen! See, you've already started! You pity me! You want to understand so you can pity me when you think I need a shoulder to cry on! But I don't need you to pity me, Hermione, especially you," He argued but Hermione snapped back, not angrily but in protest.  
  
"Harry! Why can't you come to the fact that you can't keep everything in! That's what I'm trying to tell you, you can't hide your feelings forever. You'll tear yourself up inside, and that's the only reason I want to know." Hermione said and Harry got to his feet.  
  
For the first time, his voice cracked and his eyes stung with tears, "So you want to know something about me? Something you didn't already see in your spell? That prophecy, Hermione, has the possible answer to my life or death. In the end, either Voldemort or I will end up dead. That's all it, that's what I've been trying to keep from everyone. Now that you know..." He said and his face screwed up in complete pain, "I can't be with you. I'm sorry, Hermione, but I can't be with the ones I love if I end up hurting them in the end. You might as well forget and get over me, because I don't want you to get any closer to me, Hermione. I love you too much to have you suffer if anything does happen to me. Goodnight, Hermione----goodbye."  
  
He brought her to her feet, but she turned her head sobbing and choking, "Harry, no, no, no...I can't forget you. No, p-please, I can't leave you!" She cried as she suffocated on her tears. She couldn't believe him, she wouldn't believe him! But as much as she tried to tell herself these lies, the truth of the prophecy kept coming back. A tear rolled down Harry's face as he turned her head towards him. "B-But what if everything turns for the good? What if he is defeated and all that time we could have been together?" She asked hopefully and he held her face. He kissed the corner of her eye and took one last look into her deep eyes.  
  
"Then it will be too late for us," He said and he climbed through the portrait hole. The room was quiet and empty and Harry kneeled in front of the dying fire. He cried silently as the tears dried from the heat of the flames and he made his way up to his bed. The void in his heart ached and he choked his pain down. Half of him couldn't believe he had said goodbye to Hermione's love forever and the other half tried to reassure him that it was the right thing to do, although he could not see the reason now.  
  
He lay awake in bed remembering her kisses and sweet face and the feeling of her in his arms. Never again would he feel this again from her or anyone. He had to be alone; this had been decided ever since he was born.  
  
Hermione slumped back to the floor, her mind blank of everything. It was over, the happiness and comfort she had felt in her heart for Harry was gone and it left her passionless and naked. Her tears rolled down her neck and hit the floor as she kept her head down against the cold floor. She had nothing to look forward to the next day in her life, and the tomorrows after every tomorrow. Harry was always there for her and with him gone, she felt like there was no one who could share the feelings she had. The haunting thought of him dead wrapped around her chest and left her drowning in her own agony.  
  
*'*'*'*'*  
  
The days buzzed by Hermione's eyes to the point where she would forget what class she was walking to or who was talking in front of her. Her temperament grew short and she snapped or ignored anyone who bothered to talk to her. The magic world and school didn't matter anymore and every chance she got to be alone, she would cry or try to forget her troubles by sleep.  
  
Ron and Lavender noticed this change and didn't dare to ask. They were scared to ask, fearing she might do something drastic. But she wasn't suicidal at all, just lost. Ron noticed a change in Harry as well. He avoided everyone and everything and said nothing to no one unless he had to respond in class; but even his responses was cold and careless. Ron tried to talk to him, but he gave obvious answers with either a 'yes' or 'no'. Rumors grew that something had happened between them, obviously, and through their eyes they could see who was taking the blow harder: Hermione. If they only knew Harry had been taking it just as hard.  
  
Reviews for the finals for the end of the year poured in even heavier and Hermione busied herself with work, trying to forget everything but the history in her books. She worked in the common room as usual, but by herself. Ron and Lavender would sit nearby and do their work, keeping an eye on Hermione incase she would burst into tears.  
  
The end of their sixth year was coming up soon and the common room and library filled up with more study groups by the day. Ron and Lavender asked Hermione to come study and she gave in without a word. Harry studied by himself.  
  
One day in early May came and the clear sky shone through the open windows. During their lunch break, Ron, Lavender, and Hermione decided to do extra studying (something Lavender dragged Ron into). The library was quiet as always and Harry was in there as well, mindlessly searching for books.  
  
Newspaper piles were stacked on the table and Lavender picked one up while they read about witches in the late 1800's. "I can't believe this. Look, it gets worse every week." She showed Ron the front page and he faced it head- down. "When will they catch these guys?" He sighed disturbed and Hermione picked it up.  
  
It was another front-page article on the attacks of muggle-borns. The attackers were still anonymous, and it stated that they were most likely servants to the Dark Lord or purebloods of some type. Hermione threw it down and cried, "How can people do this to other people! Kill others because they are not the same?! Imagine what this does to the people who survive the attacks, the people who loved the person who is killed!" It was the most anyone had heard her say in a long time and she stood up to leave. She spotted Harry across the library and they looked almost longingly into each other's eyes. Then a sharp pain hit her chest and she said, "It leaves them alone...afraid to do anything."  
  
She left, knocking a chair in her way and Harry watched her leave. Ron looked over to him and Harry quickly put the book back on the shelf and disappeared to another side of the library, his chest throbbing with the familiar feeling of suffering and heartbreak. Madam Pince stormed over in a huff to the fallen chair and said loudly, "How many times do I need to tell you children that this is a library!!"  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
Reviews are welcome with holiday cookies! Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwansza/any other holiday you celebrate and a happy New Year! Geez, 2004! Can you believe it? 


	24. Muggleborn

You have no idea how SORRY I am! So much work at school, it's a drag!! Excuse me for any grammatical mistakes or any faults in my HP writing. If I mess up the facts, please tell me! Thank you so much for hanging in there and reviews on the chapter is always appreciated!!!  
  
The next two or so chapters (still undecided) should wrap up this story and I'm so sorry to end it! I love writing it and don't throw rocks!!  
  
I hope I'll get the ending down for all of you and for this story when I write it. Believe me, it'll be hard to put up my typing fingers on this one!  
  
Chapter 24: Muggleborn  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··  
  
The gray clouds from the summer flash thunderstorms passed by the windows of the Hogwarts Express. The windows were cold and blurred from the light rain and Hermione held on to her handbag full of wizarding books and such. She had the room empty to herself for the time being; Ginny was visiting all of her friends down the hall and Ron and Lavender occasionally came in after being with Harry.  
  
Her sixth year was over and she felt pretty confident about her scores on the final. She bit her tongue hard as she thought about Hogwarts. After next year, there wouldn't be a Hogwarts to return to. She would be on her own, trying to make her way in the wizarding and muggle world.  
  
This was on her thoughts for quite some time now and every time, she couldn't get herself to believe that she would be alone without her friends. She expected that she would visit Hagrid and Dumbledore, and of course Ron and his family, but she couldn't see how she would see Harry.  
  
He was always on her mind. Anything from old memories or what he might have been doing at that exact moment gnawed at her and she hated it. For the longest time she kept to her own promise: to never give up on Harry. But now...it was different. They never spoke. They stole glances at each other everyday but that was it, nothing more than that.  
  
She still loved him, but that was kept away and forgotten for so long that she wasn't even sure if it was still there. She was quieter now, maybe even more depressed than usual, and for the first year ever, she couldn't wait to get home to her parents. They were her only comfort for times she couldn't handle by herself.  
  
She closed the curtain to the window when the blinding sun came out from being behind the storm clouds and the room was dim. She clutched her bag tighter as she grew sleepy and felt the soft, silky material inside.  
  
She wasn't sure why she had got it, but she did. It was right here. It was Harry's invisibility cloak, right next to his snitch. Easily enough, Hermione went to Snape's office while he was out escorting students to the train and had sneaked out with Harry's items. It seemed like such a good idea at the time: steal Harry's items and use it to talk to Harry about something, anything.  
  
Now she held them, not wanting to talk to Harry at all. Some conversation starter that would be: "Oh, hello, Harry. Here are your possessions from Snape's office. Oh, don't worry, I stole them out of there. Do you remember that night we sneaked out of Hogwarts under your cloak before I ruined our lives by looking into your memories?"  
  
She gripped the cloak in her hands while she tried not to think about it on her shoulders that one night as she kissed Harry. But it was nearly impossible so she fell asleep with the sound of the train tracks rumbling under her feet.  
  
~·· ··÷¦÷·· ··~  
  
It had to be the worst summer Hermione could remember. There she was, flipping the channels on her parents TV to nothing but muggle news. Only the kitchen light was on and she sat there silently with a bag of chips. She had never been so isolated from the magic world, except for her magic books and wand. Her parents weren't home and it gave her an empty feeling in her stomach. They had gotten used to her being gone and they spent more time at the dentist office and meetings, and even out to dinner.  
  
She didn't blame them; she had been gone for so long for nearly six years. It was just---lonely. Lonely without friends around, without Harry. She missed him so much and it hurt in the pit of her stomach.  
  
She didn't have to be lonely though. She had a sudden urge to get out of the house to just anywhere. But deep in her mind she knew that she wanted to see Harry. How ridiculous would that be? Her being one of Harry's magic students just showing up at the Dursley house would be crazy. However, it was better than anything she was doing now. She couldn't keep his cloak and snitch forever and she ran upstairs for the bag she kept them in.  
  
She felt like this was a daring move for her and she headed out the door. Before she left though, she saw both newspapers for muggles and non-muggles on her parents' coffee table. She saw the moving picture on the newspaper on a side article that read: ONE MUGGLE-ATTACKER CAUGHT FROM CULT. She clutched the bag and decided to grab her wand for safety.  
  
In ten minutes, she had left a note on the table and walked out in the night on the sidewalk. She knew of the Knight Bus and wondered if she could get them to take her to the Dursley's house. But as much as she knew of things she read, she had never seen the Knight Bus and only knew how to signal it.  
  
The street was well lit and she figured that a muggle might see her lift up her wand. She looked around for a darker street, in case a muggle also saw an abnormal bus, and jaywalked across the empty street.  
  
Thoughts of Harry buzzed in her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she knew she was still in love with him. Slowly, though, she knew that being together like they were before seemed impossible, but she just wanted to be near him. Anything. She would do anything just to see his face in front of her instead of across the room or in her pictures.  
  
She walked for a few minutes and looked down an alleyway to the street through it. The streetlights were low and she decided that this would be the best place to signal the bus.  
  
Hesitantly, she walked fast through the alley. Little critters scurried past her into cracks of the wall and she thought she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to nothing at all.  
  
She quickened her steps and thought she heard a small pop. She figured it was just her imagination getting the better of her, but she heard the footsteps again.  
  
"Excuse me, you're not lost, are you?" Said a dark voice and Hermione turned around, gripping her wand in her pocket.  
  
She turned around to four cloaked men with their wands above their heads and she shouted a spell with her own wand out.  
  
~·· ··÷¦÷·· ··~  
  
Harry drummed his fingers on the steering wheel of his car and adjusted the air temperature. It hit the dashboard twice before it started to turn on but very faintly.  
  
It wasn't much of a car, if that's what you'd call it. He never thought of having one while he was at Hogwarts, now that he had magic, but he hated being at the Dursleys. Over his fifth year summer, he tried to get out more (mostly to recover from Sirius's death) until Mr. Dursley had it with his constant pleadings to be dropped off down in Diagon Alley. One day he screamed, "Why don't you get a bloody job like all the normal boys your age and buy a car!!" And so that's what he did.  
  
He got a job down at a muggle grocery store pushing carts, and occasionally wizards in disguise of poorly matched muggle clothes would stop him and whispered to ask him if he was Harry Potter (almost in disbelief that he was working for food mart). It got him little pay and he did a good job to earn the money and with the money he earned and saved over the years, he bought the cheapest car in the newspaper.  
  
He drove on aimlessly, humming tunes to songs in his head and he caught himself humming a song they played at the Valentine's dance at Hogwarts. His face became sullen and his chest felt suffocated like he had just plunged into a pool of ice water. He missed Hermione so much and he knew it, even though his mind tried to deny it.  
  
He tried the radio, but nothing but static came through. He hadn't been out in the normal muggle world for quite some time and he still had trouble getting around. He was just out for a drive; it was just the getting home that he had problems with.  
  
He pulled over to the side of the road and took out an old map he kept under his seat. The area he was in was displayed and he tried to find the right street to get back on to the way home. He got the main drift of where to turn when he looked outside. There was a small coffee shop lying on the sidewalk and there was a man hunched over in his old overcoat with his coffee outside at the table. His graying hair hid the blonde it once had and Harry stuck his head out of the window and rode the car up to him with a jerking stop. The man didn't need Harry to talk to notice him and he turned around almost expecting him.  
  
"Looks like you handle a broom better than your car, Harry," Remus Lupin smiled and he stood up with his coffee. "How have you been? Doing well?"  
  
Harry nodded and titled his head to the passenger seat, "Would you like a ride?"  
  
"I don't particularly need one, but it's nice to visit with you," He said and he climbed in.  
  
They rode for a while silently and Harry tried once more to get some music on until he turned it back off completely. Lupin kept to his coffee and kept the conversation light, "Having a good summer so far, Harry?"  
  
"Err, there has been better," Harry shrugged, "Everything all well with you?"  
  
"Ehh, I've had better days," Lupin smirked and they laughed, "But really, it's been hard. With well...issues in the wizarding world with attacks and cults and speak of a large uprising of---the Dark Lord," Lupin said indecisively but with a slight abruptness to his tone. Harry nodded slightly and kept his eyes straight on the road.  
  
Harry drove slowly down the neighborhood area and Lupin sipped his coffee while gazing out the window. The moon was in its first quarter and Lupin studies hard on his thoughts. It wasn't until Lupin threw his arm across Harry and reached for the door handle.  
  
"Stop! Stop the car!!" Lupin hissed and Harry slammed the brakes out of surprise. "Stay here!" He commanded and Harry grabbed his wand in his coat pocket.  
  
"Lupin, I can help with whatever---" Harry persisted but Lupin was already out the door. He ran down a dark alley where flashes and fires of light flickered and Harry couldn't stand it and jumped out of his car.  
  
In the alleyway, three bodies lay frozen on the floor. Standing was Lupin and another body, which looked cold and still and its feet floated two inches off the air. Next to Lupin were Moody and Tonks, who had apparated, and a Ministry official.  
  
They talked intensely and dark for a minute until Moody turned around and snapped, "Harry! What in blazes are you doing here?!"  
  
Lupin talked with a stern face, "Don't worry about him, Moody, it's because of him I found the attackers. Harry, I told you to wait, now leave." Harry stood back but he didn't leave.  
  
Lupin continued with Moody quietly out of Harry's reach, "We to get her to Mungo's immediately. There was another wizard on the scene but he disappeared before I could throw a spell on him."  
  
Moody scratched his brow and leaned over the young witch's body, "We'll get on him right away. The Order will catch him. In the meantime, there's a Portkey we can use around here to get to Mungo's."  
  
Tonks disapparated on the scene to gather the Order and more of the Ministry officials apparated all in the alleyway when they heard of the incident. The attackers were stunned and the Ministry examined and identified their bodies. One administrator held a bag an attacker held and opened it up. He carefully pulled out a silky, silver cloak and Harry ran over ignoring Lupin's orders. The official also handled a golden Snitch and Harry grabbed it abruptly.  
  
"Where did you get this?" Harry gasped and Lupin came over. The official ranted about touching valuable evidence, but Harry took no notice to this.  
  
"Lupin, what is going on? I know there's been an attack but these are MY things!" Harry yelped and Lupin nodded stiffly. Many more members of the Order appeared, as well as Dumbledore.  
  
"Harry, the attack was on a muggleborn again...," Lupin explained but he needn't to continue. Harry looked over his shoulder and found members of the Order handling Hermione's limp body while Moody shuffled over with Portkeys he found.  
  
"Hermione!" Harry cried, but the Order placed her hand and their fingers on the Portkey and they were gone.  
  
"Lupin, I must go, please! Where am I else to go? There's no use of me staying here!" Harry commanded and Lupin shook his head.  
  
"And you're of no use in Mungo's. And what will you do with your car?" Lupin asked and Harry walked over to the Portkey.  
  
"It was a piece of trash anyway," He muttered and soon after touching the Portkey, the alleyway full of wizards and stunned bodies blurred and disappeared.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ·· 


	25. The Way Things Were

Alright, I give you all permission to throw rocks at me...really. Life's been hectic, my weekends are booked and so in my freetime I try to fit my little fictions into FF. ;) My computer crashed just yesterday and thank Buddha my files didn't delete or you'll have to be throwing boulders. Hehe...!!!!  
  
PS: To Pirate-Rover, thanks for your review (and to everyone else!) I had trouble trying to figure out how to get everyone to Mungo's and I very discreetly put in my chapter: '...Moody shuffled over with Portkeys he found.' Maybe not that noticeable (or believable to find more than one in that area....whoops), but I had already knew of what you told me...thanks!! :)  
  
*In this chapter, please tolerate any grammar errors. This chapter (in fact this whole story, if you haven't noticed) is not meant to be read as fluffy and romantic, well, most of the time. I try to get across a passionate and very bitter love between Harry and Hermione, so please enjoy...I'll be shutting up now...  
  
Thanks for waiting...hope this makes it up the LONG wait! You guys are gggggggreat! *Tony the tiger runs away from my keyboard*  
  
Chapter 25: The Way Things Were  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ··  
  
Lupin walked down the empty halls of Mungo's towards where the nurse had told him of where Hermione Granger's room was. He was carrying Harry's bag of things found in the alley and he put his wand in his pocket and shook out his hands nervously. It had been a stressful night; three of the attackers were caught and Lupin had a sick feeling in his stomach that the other one was long gone from their reach for now.  
  
His footsteps echoed on the cold floor and he looked towards a clock on the wall. 11:34. He turned the corner and saw Harry sitting in a couch in the waiting room. Lupin guessed he had been waiting for at least an hour now. From the looks of things, no one else was out in the halls except for a handful of nurses passing through other rooms.  
  
Lupin sat down next to Harry and he only gave a sideways glance toward him, "Any word yet?"  
  
"None from what I've heard of. Moody's in there," Harry said and he rubbed his forehead and continued looking at his feet.  
  
"Your car has been removed back to the Dursleys," Lupin said to make the silence a little more bearable but Harry just shrugged impassively. The waiting room's silence made everything intolerable to Harry. The utter stillness left his mind open, especially to thoughts of Hermione.  
  
They sat there uncomfortably for at least a quarter of an hour until a doctor, Fudge, and Moody emerged from room 726. They stood up abruptly and the three approached him.  
  
The doctor spoke to Lupin as if Harry wasn't there; Fudge and Moody talked intensely secluded in the corner, "You are Remus Lupin?" Lupin nodded and the doctor continued, "We have contacted the girl's parents. They should be here by mid-morning to say the least. I wouldn't say Ms. Granger's condition is critical, but I've seen better recoveries. If she had not defended herself, then the news would be ill, perhaps fatal. The blows from the attacks have sent her unconscious, but not so severely as in danger of going into a coma. There was a mingle of spells thrown at her, so she will be staying here until we know more about how her body will take this in its conscious state..."  
  
The doctor went on and Harry got lost in his own foreboding thoughts. He tried to hear of what Moody and Fudge were saying and all he heard was information on the attackers and contacting the authorities to give new information on the event.  
  
Harry focused back when Lupin spoke, "Could we see Ms. Granger?"  
  
"Visiting hours are closed but I'll give you an exception," The doctor said and Lupin and Harry followed him to the room.  
  
Lupin walked in and the doctor stopped in front of the doorway when Harry came forward, "I'm sorry, this business is confidential between the Ministry and the hospital. We will need to confiscate your wand and a full report on your record before you enter this room." The doctor stated coldly and he eyed Harry suspiciously.  
  
"Doctor Wellsburg, let him in. He is with me and he will do no harm to Ms. Granger. His name is Harry Potter so perhaps you can look him up in your files if you need anymore convincing," Lupin defended and the doctor stepped silently back abashed.  
  
The room was clear and unnaturally clean and white. The bathroom light was dim and was set with clean towels and soaps. A sienna-coloured couch was laid against the wall and just opposite to it was a bed.  
  
Hermione slept in it and beside the bed were beeping monitors from which she was connected to. Her face was pallid in the dark room and if Harry had only taken one glance at her he would have guessed that she was dead. But Harry stared at her by the end of her bedpost. His chest throbbed painfully and he gripped the bedpost as he tried to stay collected. She was ok, so why was there any reason to cry? He thought this over and over again but the tears in his eyes were threatening to fall.  
  
The doctor and Lupin talked some more until the doctor took his leave for the night. Lupin fell on the couch as he tried to collect his thoughts and plans until he came up to Harry's side. "Come, Harry. She will be all right. Get some sleep and see her when she's awake tomorrow."  
  
Harry bowed his head, "Let me stay for one night. I won't be getting anymore sleep at home than I would here. I'll be here to watch over her, please."  
  
Lupin bit the inside of his cheek and closed his eyes, "Fine, you can stay. I know how you are anyway, and you'd find you're way back in here." Lupin joked weakly and tried to smile, "Don't get into trouble, stay in this room."  
  
Harry nodded and Lupin left after putting Harry's bag of things on the floor. He heard Fudge disapprove of Harry's stay behind the room's door when Lupin told them, but he heard no more after a while. The hospital was uncomfortably quiet and Harry stood there a little longer. Hermione hadn't moved at all and Harry finally laid himself down on the couch.  
  
His mind was troubled and he let out a shaky breath. Hermione could have died. He wondered if Ron had gotten the news. Knowing his dad, he probably had already.  
  
The drapes on the window were open and he stared out of it. The monitors beeped and Harry turned to them. His vision blurred and he took his glasses off and set them on the arm of the couch and he closed his eyes. Hot tears ran down the side of his face and he didn't bother to wipe them.  
  
+·· ··÷¦÷·· ··+  
  
He never thought he would be able to sleep, but then next thing he saw was morning light coming through the window. His back was stiff on the couch and he blindly felt for his glasses. His head felt heavy and a cold draft was coming from the window and he shivered.  
  
The door was open and Harry finally sat up. Lupin and Moody were talking quietly with solemn faces. Lupin rubbed his temples and noticed Harry awake. Harry stood up and looked toward the bed. It was empty.  
  
He came up to it and felt the thin sheets. "Where is she? Where's Hermione? Has she already been taken home with her parents?" Harry asked confused. He imagined her walking out of the hospital with her parents but his stomach twisted up forebodingly.  
  
"Harry, the Grangers have already come and are outside the room. But, you need to sit down," Moody said. His face was still and Harry's heart stopped.  
  
"No. Tell me, Moody, is she all right? Is she here?" Harry asked sharply and Lupin drew a hand over his face. The nurses came in to change the sheets.  
  
"Harry, let us explain..." Lupin said gravely and Harry held his breath. He headed for the door.  
  
No, no, no, she's can't be dead. Don't think that, she's not dead! He thought and he stepped out of the room. He ran to the waiting room down the hall and thought he heard something down the corridor. He came to a dead stop before the room.  
  
The room was full of people: Dumbledore, Ministry officials, the Weasleys, and the Grangers. They were all seated except for the Grangers and Harry looked for Hermione. The doctor continued talking quietly and paused. He put a hand on her shoulder and Mrs. Granger fell on her knees with a screaming wail.  
  
Harry pressed himself against the wall and his knees locked. He couldn't talk, what was there to say? She is alive, she is fine...  
  
He turned his head to the hall and a handful of people came down with a rolling cot. It came by slowly and the sheet over the cot caught on the wheel. It revealed Hermione's cold body and Harry closed his eyes.  
  
+·· ··÷¦÷·· ··+  
  
Harry jumped up on the couch and gripped the cushions under him. Cold sweat ran down his neck and face and he tried to catch his breath in choking breaths. A dream, it was only that, nothing more, he thought.  
  
He leapt up from the couch and grabbed his glasses. He stumbled and hit his foot against the couch. Yes, he was awake. He looked at the bed. It was empty.  
  
No, no... he thought, this isn't a dream...  
  
He ran to the bed and his heart raced. Then, he noticed the bathroom door was halfway closed and the light was on. He pushed the door open and found Hermione.  
  
She was on the ground with her knees to her chest and she cried silently. Her hair tumbled down the back of her hospital gown and her cheeks were a deep red. Then she cried in deep sobs.  
  
Harry bent down. "Hermione..." He said quietly and she jumped slightly when she noticed him next to her. She kept crying and she bowed her head; Harry put his arms around her and let her cry. He had remembered what the doctor had said and knew that the shock of the spells would most likely make her hysterical.  
  
Hermione took a couple of stifling breaths and trembled. "I w-woke up and...and didn't k-know where I was! I c-couldn't remember anything that happened and suddenly, I f-find myself here. And then I c-could remember it all and feel every s-spell they threw at me..." She stuttered as she confessed and she ran her hand over the cold tiles on the floor.  
  
"I was so stupid g-going out by myself...I knew how dangerous it w-was now but I still went. And--and I went to go find you! I don't know w-where your stuff is now, but I was going to find you and give it to you! I'm s-so sorry..." She continued and she rest her head on his shoulder, "I'm so glad you're here right now, Harry."  
  
She sniffed and cried some more just for the sake of crying and Harry helped her on her feet. She stood up weakly and her face was tear-stained and feverish. His heart ached and he wasn't sure if it was because his pity for her pain or because he wanted her back. He held her hands and urged her to the door, "I'm glad you're all right...I was scared for your sake. Come on, Hermione, let me take you to your bed." He tucked her hair behind her ear.  
  
Her shoulders shuddered and she whipped her hands harshly out from his grasp and loosely put her arms around him. "Harry, I don't care what you say. I've thought about you all summer and I missed you so much," She paused and choked on her words, "I can't stand this, Harry. I can't forget you or what I f-felt for you. I still love you and nothing you can say can change my mind. Whatever is going to happen will happen, but I'm still going to love you!"  
  
Hermione had her forehead against his chest and she said this all as she looked at the floor. It was true. Even though he wanted them to be apart in fear of hurting her if something did happen to Harry, Hermione couldn't lie to herself. She only wanted to be closer to him the more he pulled away.  
  
Harry fiercely blinked back his tears and put his arms around her. He knew what he said, he knew what he promised himself, the oath to stop loving her for her sake. Yet as much as he wanted to deny it, he did love her very much, and the more he thought about it the more he realized he cared for her more that anyone. That was why he couldn't have her suffer if he died, if the prophecy took an ill turn on his life.  
  
Hermione closed her eyes and her voice was steady, "Harry, tell me you love me...I know you do. I can tell by you hold me." She admitted and Harry was locked up inside. She had a way of knowing everything and for the first time he nearly burst into tears.  
  
"Hermione, don't make me say it, please. I can't, I can't...there are too many things that could hurt us both in the future," He said and he clenched his teeth painfully. His head was beside her hair and all his memories he had with her the previous year was flooding inside his mind. He didn't need to be reminded of the way he felt with her but they recollected in his mind to the point where all that mattered was her.  
  
She lifted her head heavily after she heard him say this. "Then live in the moment with me like the way things were," She whispered raspy and he went weak just looking at her face. He put a hand to her cheek and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed back and for that brief moment they had forgotten everything they had been agonizing about and their concern was bent on each other.  
  
Quickly they pulled away and an awkward silence followed. A wave of exhaustion swept over Hermione and she left the bathroom to her bed. Harry pulled the covers back for her ands he slid in; Harry brought the covers to her shoulders. They looked at each other for a minute until Hermione sat up and they hugged shortly. Then she laid back down and as much as she wanted to stay awake she fell deeply asleep.  
  
Harry sat on the couch very still and thought of her. He wished none of this had happened, that they were both safe at home making plans to spend the summer with each other. He watched her sleep in her bed and wished slumber would come over him too. But he stayed awake for a long time and for a long time, he thought.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· 


	26. In the End

Thank you for the great reviews and it's sort of sad to put this story down. It was my first story on here and I've noticed it really has improved my writing skills being on FF.net. If you hadn't noticed, I would usually change the POV between characters in this story and this one with end with Hermione. I hope the ending satisfies every one of you. ;( Oh, this is just too sad... At Chapter 26, this is the end of Behind His Glasses.  
  
(To JED, I know you had emailed me about sending you the story and I will get to it soon. ^__^)  
  
Chapter 26: In the End  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ··  
  
The curtains were pulled and the sound of soft speaking was heard. A familiar feeling came and it felt like home. She opened her eyes and her mother and father were beside her with their hands in hers.  
  
"Dad, Mum," She mumbled and lifted up to hug them. She had missed them so much and having them there made everything in her life so much better.  
  
Her mother stroked her head and laid her back down on her bed. Hermione brought a hand to her face and looked out the window. It was the first time she noticed what was out the window. It was a clear day and soft summer sunlight poured through.  
  
"Mum, Dad, I am so sorry. It was late and I wasn't thinking and I didn't know---" She started but her father squeezed her hand.  
  
"There is nothing to explain anymore, Hermione. We heard what we needed and all we want is for you to come home. We have taken some time off from work to be with you."  
  
Her mother interjected, "We should be sorry. We haven't been home at all since you have been back. Don't think that we don't care. We do, more than anything." Her mother stopped and Hermione could tell she still felt guilt for what Hermione did. Hermione opened her mouth to say something but didn't.  
  
Her father looked off for a minute before saying, "I suppose we should get you up and out of this hospital gown, " Hermione gave a slight smile and her father continued, "We have the doctor's permission to take you back home. Would you like that?" He asked and Hermione nodded after a minute. This morning had been the best in months she realized. She never noticed how much comfort her parents gave her, even if they were treating her like a little girl.  
  
They spoke for a few minutes until her parents got off of the bed to excuse her and let her bathe and change. Her mother looked out the window as her father read a book he had brought along and Hermione sat up. She shifted and her feet touched the ground slowly. The floor was cold and she felt a shiver down her back. That was when she looked around the room.  
  
"Harry...where has Harry gone?" She asked quietly and her father looked up from his book.  
  
"Harry Potter?" He asked and looked at his wife, "He hasn't been here. Visiting hours start at nine but we have been here since eight on permission. Why?"  
  
Hermione looked to the clock on the wall. Ten-thirty. "Nothing. I must have dreamt his coming then," She lied and she stood up. A pang of dizziness hit her temples but she stayed put. She took a few steps until she got to the doorway of the bathroom and her parents came over and kissed her. "We'll be out in the waiting room until you are done." Her mother said and they closed the door.  
  
Hermione stood there facing the bathroom, and finally closed the door. She looked into the mirror and rubbed her eyes. In her opinion, she was a mess. She tied back her hair back and turned the faucet on. The water was cold but she splashed it on her face, which woke her up just a little more. She leaned against the wall and looked at the mirror.  
  
She knew Harry had been there the night before and wished he had stayed. It was mostly a blur to her but she remembered him there, she wouldn't have forgotten that. She gave a painful sigh and looked at her arms. Mungo's had done a good enough job on her; there was some evidence of the marks the spells left but they would be gone by tomorrow she figured.  
  
She ran the water in the shower for a minute before undressing and she stood under the hot water for half an hour. It seemed to wash away most of her troubles for the time being.  
  
··· ··÷¦÷·· ··  
  
And so, the room was emptied and it waited for another patient as Hermione checked out with her parents. Lupin and Moody were there by the door to see how she was holding up. It was good to see them; she had missed them after a time. Her parents talked to the doctor for a little while and Lupin pulled her aside as she waited.  
  
"Hermione, it's good to see you awake," He smiled and they hugged. He kept his hand on her shoulder, "How are you feeling?"  
  
Hermione nodded slightly, "Good...better. Still a little tired if you can believe it from all the time I slept." She said and laughed shortly.  
  
They sat for a silent moment and Hermione asked, "Harry was here last night, wasn't he?"  
  
Lupin nodded, "Yes. Unfortunately he hasn't seen you up. I suppose he left early in the morning or late at night. He stayed in your room for a bit. Your glad you have a friend that cares for you that much, and I would bet." He said and Hermione nodded again as if she didn't know. She wouldn't tell him about last night.  
  
"Well," He said at last with a weak smile, "Stay at home and get better. We'll be writing to you on owl post to see how you keep up if you don't mind. Have a good summer." He said and with a final squeeze around her shoulders he left with Moody.  
  
At last her parents walked with her on either side of her back home. She didn't know why, but she looked back to watch Mungo's disappear as they went.  
  
··· ··÷¦÷·· ··  
  
The summer months were passing fast and for the first time ever, Hermione was dreading for the summer to end. Usually she was excited about gong back to learn more magic, and she was in a way, but she wanted to be home just a little longer. So far, her parents had let her recover by sleeping in or reading or making her meals. She felt a little guilty about being so lazy but she enjoyed it for the most part. After a while they pick up their jobs again and she was left at home alone. Hermione could understand why and besides, she was old enough to care for herself and she appreciated what they did for her.  
  
The weeks grew hazy and dim and soon a thick smog fell and spread from all over. The heat was hot and muggy in the late afternoons and the sky was thick and misty. Hermione watched all of this happen from inside out her window although it was hard to see.  
  
The time alone made her feel down at times and other times, she was glad to be alone. But of late July, the loneliness left her mind open to memories and she hated it. The memories were of mostly Harry and they seemed to torment her as if making her realize she would never make any more memories like that again. And her thoughts were right and being a troubled girl at that age, she would cry just to make herself feel better. It was a weak attempt to relieve the depressing thoughts.  
  
And one afternoon in July, she let herself think of the memories. She never knew what day it was anymore, she never kept a calendar and she relied on the Hogwarts letter of supplies to remind her what day it was, but that of course hadn't come yet.  
  
She was sitting in her room, trying to recap on the past year's teachings when she just stopped and put it away and leaned on her window. For about a week there had been a slight downpour of rain which made the fog even denser. There wasn't any point in looking out of the window but she still looked and it was like a blank canvas with the whitish fog.  
  
She thought of how she felt when she first realized she might have liked him and the day by the lake. Oh, what a horrible moment that was, she thought. She remembered how she wanted to kiss him and how humiliating it was and now that she looked back, she thought it was somewhat funny at how awkward the moment was. And it was strange to think that, knowing how much it had bothered her only months ago. She had matured much throughout her sixth year and she didn't know it.  
  
She remembered Christmas Eve and how they had talked for the first time in months. That first kiss was still clear in her mind. It was so innocent and rather petty but it had meant so much to her and still did.  
  
And then there was when she was caught outside flying with him and even now her cheeks went red. She never realized how many times she was embarrassed this year being with Harry. It was so exhilarating just to be flying in the air that one time and she missed that feeling, even though it had cost her two months worth of detention.  
  
She laughed for a moment by herself but stopped at the sound of it. She had thought of the time when Harry had asked her to the dance at Hogsmede and how silly, and just a little childish, it had been but it had made her smile seeing him like that. That had led to that wonderful time at the dance and that was the moment where she had stopped smiling.  
  
Before even then was perhaps her best memory that year with Harry before everything practically went to hell. She still remembered how upset she was and how angry Harry had been but she had loved it. The game had ended and Gryffindor had lost but it was pouring and the memory was as clear as rain in her head ironically. She remembered how it felt to be that close to him to the point where it seemed unreal. She took her eyes away from the window and started to cry.  
  
She knew they could never be like that again, and if they could, how? He was unwilling and she had given up. The thoughts of what followed hurt her and more than anything she regretted the night she looked into his own personal thoughts. It was stupid, so stupid and look where it got her, alone and heartbroken.  
  
She rested her head on the windowsill and wept in her hands. She felt like it was her fault and perhaps it wasn't. Perhaps it was his, or both, or neither. She didn't know and didn't care because even if she took the effort to care, it wouldn't get her anywhere closer to Harry.  
  
She looked up into the heavy smog aimlessly. There was nothing except for the faint outline of the house beside them and the tree's leaves hanging by her window. She looked up to the grayness and wiped her eyes. There was no point in crying about it now.  
  
And then in the density of the mist, she thought she saw something flicker. She ignored it at first but soon she caught herself staring at it as it came closer and closer. It was the brightest thing in the sky, a pure white almost and soon she began to realize what it was although disbelieving it at first. She opened her window and stepped back as Hedwig flew in. She was overwhelmed.  
  
She fluffed her feathers and Hermione looked at her talons at the letter she grasped. She left her room for a moment and came back with a piece of apple. She gave it to Hedwig and she took it thankfully. She untied the letter from her legs and slowly unrolled it. She bit her tongue hard when she saw his name at the bottom even though she knew it was from him from Hedwig. Her heart swelled up with his letter in her hands and she read:  
  
----------------------------------------------  
  
Dear Hermione,  
  
I am sorry I didn't stay at Mungo's longer to see you in the morning, but I felt it would be better for me to leave. I'm sorry I haven't written or tried calling or at least seeing you this summer. In fact I'm sorry for everything.  
  
Hermione, I am so bad at saying things like this or apologizing, I am. I don't know how you feel anymore about us, or at least me. Please, hate me if you do, I know you must, but I miss you. I can't stand how stubborn I am and I feel like over the summer I am finally realizing how much I still care for you, I do. I don't know why I didn't listen to you at first, but I am now. Just think of what I've said and I cannot expect you to be waiting for me anywise.  
  
It hurts me to think about how I tried to make us stay apart as if it was for the better but it's killing me inside. Regardless of anything that happens or is going to happen I want to be with you, even if it means I'll have to make you fall in love with me all over again. I'll get the joy of rediscovering you in the meantime. It's not about me anymore, only you, like it always has.  
  
Love, Harry  
  
~Send Hedwig home although I won't be there.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
The letter stopped and Hermione held the letter. No matter how many times she told herself to forget him or get over it, none of it mattered. The aching to be with him again exploded in her chest and she lay on her bed with her hands over her face unable to think of what to do. Hedwig seemed restless and Hermione got up to open the window again. Though, before she left Hedwig squawked loudly at her and flew off gracefully.  
  
She stood there silently and watched her disappear when it had hit her. She fumbled with the letter she left on the bed and read the last line. She let out a breath and held it until she ran out the door. Perhaps it meant nothing, but she wanted to believe in it.  
  
She came to the front down and unlocked it hurriedly and swung it open. She took a few steps in the thick fog. She could barely see anything ten feet in front of her. She looked out. Nothing.  
  
And then she walked out further and at the end of her driveway on the black asphalt there he was. Harry was there waiting for her and both of their hearts stopped as they saw each other only a few feet away. They didn't move, they didn't speak...until Harry moved forward and they both held each other tightly.  
  
All they did was stand there in each other's arms until Hermione pulled her head back. Even in the fog she could tell her brown eyes were sparkling with tears and they were. She was crying in her bliss that he was here.  
  
His eyes were shining too although he was sniffing in the attempt to keep them back. She smiled at him and looked at his eyes behind his glasses. Something was different and possibly everything was different, but then she realized the day in the first time in weeks and she grinned as he held her close.  
  
"Happy birthday, Harry," She said and he gave a slight smile. She knew everything and he loved it, he thought.  
  
"Hermione, I know reading a letter is only part of it and I meant it. I love you, Hermione---" He started but she rested her head against his and he stayed quiet as she stared at him.  
  
"Don't talk," She said quietly and he closed his eyes. She put her arms around his neck and whispered, "I love you, too."  
  
And there they stood together like they would be for a long time and nobody saw them.  
  
·· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ·· ··· ··÷¦÷·· ··  
  
Thanks a million again for spending your time on reading this story. It has meant a lot, with all the replies and people adding me to their lists, I greatly appreciate it. Please give me your final word on my story...I love knowing the great members who read my work on FF.  
  
THE END 


End file.
